Department of Public Safety v. State Board of Labor Relations
Department of Public Safety v. State Board of Labor Relations
Opinion of the Court
Opinion
The issue presented by this appeal is whether the trial court properly concluded that the employees of the named plaintiff, the department of public safety (department),
The record reveals the following procedural history. The union filed a petition with the board seeking certification as the exclusive bargaining representative of a new bargaining unit consisting of state police lieutenants and state police captains. The board ordered an election among those employees, to which the department objected on the ground that the employees did not have the right to bargain under the state employee
Thereafter, the department refused to bargain with the union
On appeal, the department claims that the trial court improperly deferred to the board’s interpretation of § 5-270 (g) (2) and (3) and concluded that the employees were not managerial employees because the statute provides that managerial employees must exercise independent judgment in carrying out the enumerated functions. The board and the union contend that the trial court properly interpreted the statute and properly applied it to the facts of this case. We conclude that the trial court improperly construed § 5-270 (g) to include a requirement that the managerial employees exercise independent judgment in carrying out the principal functions listed in subdivisions (2) and (3).
At the outset, we set forth the standard of review. “According to our well established standards, [r]eview of an administrative agency decision requires a court to determine whether there is substantial evidence in the administrative record to support the agency’s findings of basic fact and whether the conclusions drawn from those facts are reasonable. . . . Neither this court nor the trial court may retry the case or substitute its own judgment for that of the administrative agency on the weight of the evidence or questions of fact. . . . Our ultimate duty is to determine, in view of all of the
“When construing a statute, [o]ur fundamental objective is to ascertain and give effect to the apparent intent of the legislature. ... In other words, we seek to determine, in a reasoned manner, the meaning of the statutory language as applied to the facts of [the] case, including the question of whether the language actually does apply. ... In seeking to determine that meaning, General Statutes § l-2z
In the present case, the department contends that, because the board’s interpretation of § 5-270 (g) has not been time-tested and previously has not been subject to judicial scrutiny, the board was not entitled to deference and our review is plenary. Specifically, the department points out that the board has interpreted § 5-270 only twice; see In re Connecticut State Employees Assn., SEIU Local 2001, Conn. Board of Labor Relations Decision No. 4070 (August 17, 2005); In re Protective Services Employees Coalition, AFL-CIO, Conn. Board of Labor Relations Decision No. 3145 (October 27,1993); and that neither decision was subject to judicial review. The board and the union contend that, because the board concluded in these two decisions that certain police lieutenants who worked for various agencies and captains in the department of correction were not managerial employees under § 5-270 (g), and because the department was the employer in both decisions and did not challenge the board’s decisions, the board’s interpretation of the statute is time-tested and is entitled to deference.
Thus, under § 5-270 (g) (2) and (3), employees in a particular position are managerial employees if the enumerated functions constitute the position’s “principal functions . . . .” Although the phrase “principal functions” is not statutorily defined, we conclude that no reasonable interpretation of the phrase carries the connotation that employees in a managerial position must exercise independent judgment in carrying out the enumerated functions. Rather, the phrase connotes that the enumerated functions must be the position’s most important, consequential or influential functions. See Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (10th Ed. 1993) (defining “principal” as “most important, consequential, or influential: CHIEF”); see also Black’s Law Dictionary (9th Ed. 2009) (defining “principal” as “[c]hief; primary; most important”).
The board and the union raise numerous policy arguments in support of their claim that managerial employees must exercise independent judgment in carrying out the principal functions described in § 5-270 (g) (2) and (3), and also point to the legislative history of the statute. We have concluded, however, that the language of § 5-270 (g) plainly and unambiguously does not require that managerial employees exercise independent judgment in carrying out their principal functions.
We conclude, therefore, that the trial court improperly dismissed the department’s appeal after concluding that the board properly had determined that the employees did not meet the criteria for managerial employees set forth in § 5-270 (g) (2) and (3) because the department had not proved that the employees exercised independent judgment in carrying out the functions described in those subdivisions. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand the case to that court with direction to remand the case to the board so that it may apply the proper standard.
The judgment of the trial court is reversed and the case is remanded to that court with direction to sustain the department’s appeal and to remand the case to the board for further proceedings according to law.
In this opinion NORCOTT, ZARELLA and McLACHLAN, Js., concurred.
Because the department, in its appeal, was acting through the office of labor relations of the office of policy and management, that office also is a plaintiff in this action.
General Statutes § 5-270 (g) provides: “ ‘Managerial employee’ means any individual in a position in which the principal functions are characterized by not fewer than two of the following, provided for any position in any unit of the system of higher education, one of such two functions shall be as specified in subdivision (4) of this subsection: (1) Responsibility for direction of a subunit or facility of a major division of an agency or assignment to an agency head’s staff; (2) development, implementation and evaluation of goals and objectives consistent with agency mission and policy; (3) participation in the formulation of agency policy; or (4) a major role in the administration of collective bargaining agreements or major personnel decisions, or both, including staffing, hiring, firing, evaluation, promotion and training of employees.”
The department appealed from the judgment of the trial court to the Appellate Court and we transferred the appeal to this court pursuant to General Statutes § 51-199 (c) and Practice Book § 65-1.
The department was required to refuse to negotiate with the union in order to obtain judicial review of the board’s decision certifying the union as the employees’ bargaining representative. See Windsor v. Windsor Police Dept. Employees Assn., Inc., 154 Conn. 530, 535, 227 A.2d 65 (1967) (“there is statutory provision for an appeal from an order of the board only when that order is a final order of the board and when an unfair labor practice is alleged to have occurred”).
The court also concluded that the department had “failed to show that the . . . board’s conclusion [that the employees did not satisfy subdivision (4) of § 5-270 (g)] lacks substantial evidence.” On appeal, the department has abandoned its claim that the employees meet this criterion.
General Statutes § l-2z provides: “The meaning of a statute shall, in the first instance, be ascertained from the text of the statute itself and its relationship to other statutes. If, after examining such text and considering such relationship, the meaning of such text is plain and unambiguous and does not yield absurd or unworkable results, extratextual evidence of the meaning of the statute shall not be considered.”
Neither the board nor the union contends that the department’s claim was barred by the doctrine of collateral estoppel.
The dissent agrees with this conclusion, but concludes that, because the legislature has amended § 5-270 (g) several times since the department’s decision in In re Protective Services Employees Coalition, AFL-CIO, supra, Conn. Board of Labor Relations Decision No. 3145, we should presume that the legislature acquiesced in the decision. We recognize that “in certain circumstances, the legislature’s failure to make changes to a long-standing agency interpretation implies its acquiescence to the agency’s construction of the statute.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Longley v. State Employees Retirement Commission, 284 Conn. 149, 164, 931 A.2d 890 (2007). We have concluded, however, that the board’s interpretation of § 5-270 (g) (2) is not time-tested. In addition, we conclude that that inteipretation is inconsistent with the plain language of the statute. We believe that these considerations rebut any presumption of legislative acquiescence.
“In the construction of the statutes, words and phrases shall be construed according to the commonly approved usage of the language; and technical words and phrases, and such as have acquired a peculiar and appropriate meaning in the law, shall be construed and understood accordingly. General Statutes § 1-1 (a). If a statute or regulation does not sufficiently define a term, it is appropriate to look to the common understanding of the term as
The board contends in its brief that, “for the phrase ‘principal function’ to have any meaning, it must include . . . elements of expertise and judgment and reliance by the [department] on both.” In its decision, however, it concluded that, under § 5-270 (g) (2), managerial employees must “exercise . . . independent judgment (Emphasis added.) Although we agree with the board that the functions described in § 5-270 (g) (2) and (3) may require some level of expertise and judgment and that employers will rely on managerial employees to carry out their functions, we do not agree with its conclusion that the phrase principal function connotes the exercise of independent judgment, which was the basis for its decision.
We do not suggest that these are the only factors that may be considered.
We emphasize that we do not, as the dissent suggests, conclude that the functions of managers as set forth in § 5-270 (g) (2) are “ministerial.” We conclude only that managerial employees need not exercise independent judgment in carrying out those functions. The board found that the employees “may be asked for their opinions ... in select cases, [and] individual majors and other superiors may rely heavily on them,” but, nevertheless, concluded that they were not managerial employees because “they simply do not have and cannot exercise the level of independent judgment and involvement necessary to meet this criterion.” Thus, the board concluded
The department points out that the state police, as a paramilitary organization, has a strict chain of command requiring more pronounced accountability than other areas of state service. In recognition of this fact, we conclude that the board, on remand, may consider the nature of the organization in determining the degree of autonomy that the employees must enjoy in order to satisfy the criteria set forth in § 5-270 (g) (2).
In its memorandum of decision, the trial court suggested that the board properly held that both subdivisions (2) and (3) of § 5-270 (g) require that managerial employees exercise independent judgment in carrying out the described activities. In the board’s decision, however, the board stated that the department had not established that the employees met the criterion in subdivision (3) of § 5-270 (g) because “no evidence or testimony established that these employees are involved in any way, other than the occasional
Because we must remand the case to the board for reconsideration of its determination that the employees do not meet the criterion contained in § 5-270 (g) (2) in light of our determination that that criterion does not require the exercise of independent judgment, we need not decide whether the board’s determination that the employees did not meet the criterion set forth in subdivision (3) was proper under the definition of principal functions that we have adopted in this opinion. Rather, we leave that determination to the board on remand.
General Statutes § 5-270 (f) provides in relevant part: “ ‘Supervisory employee’ means any individual in a position in which the principal functions are characterized by not fewer than two of the following: (1) Performing such management control duties as scheduling, assigning, overseeing and reviewing the work of subordinate employees; (2) performing such duties as are distinct and dissimilar from those performed by the employees supervised; (3) exercising judgment in adjusting grievances, applying other established personnel policies and procedures and in enforcing the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement; and (4) establishing or participating in the establishment of performance standards for subordinate employees and taking corrective measures to implement those standards, provided in connection with any of the foregoing the exercise of such authority is not merely of a routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment . . . .” (Emphasis added.) The hoard argues that it would be absurd to conclude that supervisory employees, who are of lower rank than managerial employees and who are not excluded from collective bargaining, are required to exercise independent judgment in carrying out their principal functions, but managerial employees are not. The principal functions of supervisory employees are different, however, from those of managerial employees. Accordingly, we do not agree that our interpretation results in an absurdity. The legislature reasonably could distinguish supervisory employees from lower ranking employees by requiring a finding that the former exercise independent judgment in carrying out certain functions while distinguishing managerial employees from lower ranking employees by requiring a finding that the former had different principal functions than the latter.
General Statutes § 4-183 Q) provides in relevant part that, if the trial court sustains an administrative appeal, it may, “if appropriate . . . remand the case for further proceedings. . . .”
Dissenting Opinion
with whom PALMER, J., joins, dissenting. I disagree with the majority’s determination that the
As a preliminary matter, it is useful to clarify briefly the basis of both the board’s decision and the trial court’s affirmance of that decision, as well as what is not at issue. It is undisputed that the employees’ job
In affirming the board’s decision, however, the trial court treated that decision as though it properly had injected the independent judgment requirement into its analysis of both subdivisions (2) and (3) of § 5-270 (g). In doing so, the court noted that “[t]he concept of independent judgment does not require the manager to have
I
I first turn to § 5-270 (g), which provides in relevant part that the term “ ‘[m]anagerial employee’ means any individual in a position in which the principal functions are characterized by . . . (2) development, implementation and evaluation of goals and objectives consistent with agency mission and policy . . . .” The question of whether the trial court properly concluded that the board correctly had determined that the employees did not satisfy § 5-270 (g) (2) because that subdivision requires the exercise of independent judgment presents a question of statutory interpretation. I agree with the majority that the trial court improperly deferred to the board’s interpretation of § 5-270 (g) (2) because that interpretation was neither time-tested nor previously
In undertaking this review, I am mindful of the plain meaning rule of General Statutes § l-2z
Section 5-270 (g) (2) addresses three functions that must be performed consistently with the mission and policy of the particular state agency — (1) the development, (2) implementation and (3) evaluation of goals and objectives. The commonly accepted definitions of these terms, to which we may look as part of our analysis under § l-2z; see General Statutes § 1-1 (a);
It is significant, however, that § 5-270 (g) (2) requires the evaluation and development of goals and objectives in conformity with “agency mission and policy . . . .” (Emphasis added.) Those policies and missions rarely consist of wholly objective criteria or ministerial procedures that would obviate the need for the exercise of independent judgment, but, rather, are commonly understood to involve broadly stated ideals. See Black’s Law Dictionary (9th Ed. 2009) (defining “policy” as “[t]he general principles by which a government is guided in its management of public affairs” [emphasis added]); The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, supra (defining “mission” as “[a] special assignment given to a person or group”); The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, supra (“[P]olicy” is defined as: “[a] plan or course of action, as of a government . . . intended to influence and determine decisions, actions, and other matters: American foreign policy; the company’s personnel policy. ... A course of action, guiding principle, or procedure considered expedient, prudent or advantageous . . . .”). Acting in conformity with a policy or mission therefore necessitates independent judgment of the
I find unavailing the majority’s contention that the legislature’s inclusion of the term “independent judgment” in § 5-270 (f)
The available extratextual sources, to which I turn because the language of the statute is ambiguous; Grady v. Somers, 294 Conn. 324, 334, 984 A.2d 684 (2009); bolsters the department’s reading of § 5-270 (g) (2) as requiring managers to exercise independent judgment. This court previously has analyzed the meaning and the import of the legislative history of § 5-270 (g). “A review of the legislative history of No. 81-457 of the 1981 Public Acts, the origin of ... § 5-270 (g) which excludes managerial employees, reveals that, in enacting the statute, the legislators were . . . concerned with efficiency in state government: ‘The purpose of [§ 5-270 (g)] is to ensure that there are people available to act as managers for the state system to provide effective management of state government.’ 24 H.R. Proc., Pt. 24,1981 Sess., p. 7874, remarks of Representative Gardner Wright. ‘It is important that we allow the state to deal with some system for being able to pick the people who will be classified as managers so that everyone knows what the responsibility is, what the assignments are and who has to take responsibility for action whether something is done correctly and can take credit or whether something is done badly and have to take the blame.’ 24 S. Proc., Pt. 17, 1981 Sess.,
Drawing from this legislative history, as well as the text of the statute, this court has emphasized that, in order to effectuate the legislature’s policy considerations, the managerial exclusion applies only to employees with significant independent and decision-making authority. “[M]anagers have the responsibility to decide major personnel decisions and formulate agency policies .... These responsibilities give managers prestige, autonomy and managerial authority that is not enjoyed by other employees.” (Emphasis added.) Dept. of Administrative Services v. Employees’ Review Board, 226 Conn. 670, 683-84, 628 A.2d 957 (1993); see also State Management Assn. of Connecticut, Inc. v.
In addition, as we previously have noted, the board has interpreted § 5-270 (g) to require the exercise of independent judgment. In In re Protective Services Employees Coalition, AFL-CIO, Conn. Board of Labor Relations Decision No. 3145 (October 27, 1993), the board approved a petition to include certain state police lieutenants associated with the department of mental health and the alcohol and drug abuse commission in a collective bargaining unit in part because the lieutenants did not exercise independent judgment in developing, implementing and evaluating goals and objectives consistent with the agency’s mission and policy. Id., 8. In reaching this decision, the board noted that “[t]he degree to which the development of a [lieutenant's goals and objectives is thus constrained by guidance from the [c]entral [o]ffice and from the facility’s top management is problematic. . . . They may not be told what to write, but . . . [top management does] say, submit these, these are acceptable or they’re not acceptable, get them more in line with what they are supposed to be, what you have been instructed to achieve.”
In light of this legislative history, as well as the strong suggestion within the text of § 5-270 (g) (2) that the enumerated dirties require discretion and autonomy, I would conclude that the trial court properly determined that the board correctly had concluded that, to fulfill § 5-270 (g) (2), the development, implementation and evaluation of goals and objectives consistent with an agency’s mission and policy requires the exercise of
II
I turn next to the trial court’s determination that the board properly concluded that § 5-270 (g) (3), which requires “participation in the formulation of agency policy,” was not satisfied in the present case. As I previously have noted, the board concluded that the department had failed to establish that the employees were involved in any way, beyond offering occasional suggestions, in the formulation of policy. The trial court, however, treated the board’s decision as requiring “independent judgment” for both § 5-270 (g) (2) and (3). Although I agree with the majority that the trial court improperly engrafted that requirement onto the statutory language, I do so not because the court misinterpreted the statute, but, rather, because it misinterpreted the basis of the board’s decision.
While the department focuses specifically on the fact that the board’s decision refers to “meaningful” participation, which the department contends was improper, the department ignores the fact that the board specifically found that the department had provided no evidence or testimony demonstrating that the employees were involved in policy formulation in any way beyond
I therefore respectfully dissent.
As the majority notes in footnote 1 of its opinion, the office of policy and management also was a plaintiff in this case.
General Statutes § 5-270 (g) provides: “ ‘Managerial employee’ means any individual in a position in which the principal functions are characterized by not fewer than two of the following, provided for any position in any unit of the system of higher education, one of such two functions shall be as specified in subdivision (4) of this subsection: (1) Responsibility for direction of a subunit or facility of a major division of an agency or assignment to an agency head’s staff; (2) development, implementation and evaluation of goals and objectives consistent with agency mission and policy; (3) participation in the formulation of agency policy; or (4) a major role in the administration of collective bargaining agreements or major personnel decisions, or both, including staffing, hiring, firing, evaluation, promotion and training of employees.”
General Statutes § l-2z provides: “The meaning of a statute shall, in the first instance, be ascertained from the text of the statute itself and its relationship to other statutes. If, after examining such text and considering such relationship, the meaning of such text is plain and unambiguous and does not yield absurd or unworkable results, extratextual evidence of the meaning of the statute shall not be considered.”
The majority also concludes that the term “principal functions,” as it is used in the introductory phrase of § 5-270 (g), does not give rise to a requirement that an employee act with independent judgment in order to qualify as a manager. I agree, and accordingly, I confine my analysis to whether the language of § 5-270 (g) (2), itself, requires such judgment.
General Statutes § 1-1 (a) provides: “In the construction of the statutes, words and phrases shall be construed according to the commonly approved usage of the language; and technical words and phrases, and such as have acquired a peculiar and appropriate meaning in the law, shall be construed and understood accordingly.”
It is well established that duties that require independent judgment are nonministerial. See Gerte v. Logistec Connecticut, Inc., 283 Conn. 60, 65, 924 A.2d 855 (2007) (“[t]he proceedings on remand, therefore, are not merely ministerial but, rather, will require the exercise of independent judgment or discretion and the taking of additional evidence”); Smith v. Yurkovsky, 265 Conn. 816, 820, 830 A.2d 743 (2003) (“[t]he test that determines whether [an administrative] decision is a final judgment turns on the scope of the proceedings on remand: if such further proceedings are merely ministerial, the decision is an appealable final judgment, but if further proceedings will require the exercise of independent judgment or discretion . . . the appeal is premature and must be dismissed” [emphasis added; internal quotation marks omitted]); Dechio v. Raymark Industries, Inc., 114 Conn. App. 58, 71-72, 968 A.2d 450 (“[our Supreme Court] long has held that such a determi
General Statutes § 5-270 (f) provides: “ ‘Supervisory employee’ means any individual in a position in which the principal functions are characterized by not fewer than two of the foEowing: (1) Performing such management control duties as scheduling, assigning, overseeing and reviewing the work of subordinate employees; (2) performing such duties as are distinct and dissimilar from those performed by the employees supervised; (3) exercising judgment in adjusting grievances, applying other established personnel policies and procedures and in enforcing the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement; and (4) estabEshing or participating in the establishment of performance standards for subordinate employees and taking corrective measures to implement those standards, provided in connection with any of the foregoing the exercise of such authority is not merely of a routine
Indeed, if, as the board reasonably concluded, the plain meaning of § 5-270 (g) (2) required independent judgment, the explicit inclusion of such a term would have been redundant. We presume that the legislature does not include superfluous terms. See AvalonBay Communities, Inc. v. Orange, 256 Conn. 557, 588-89, 775 A.2d 284 (2001) (“It is a basic tenet of statutory construction that the legislature did not intend to enact meaningless provi
General Statutes § 5-270 (b) provides: “ ‘Employee’ means any employee of an employer, whether or not in the classified service of the employer, except elected or appointed officials other than special deputy sheriffs, board and commission members, disability policy specialists assigned to the Council on Developmental Disabilities, managerial employees and confidential employees.”
The legislative history of § 5-270 (f) reveals that a proposed but unadopted amendment to the original act would have required that supervisory and nonsupervisory employees be in different collective bargaining units. See 18 H.R. Proc., Pt. 14,1975 Sess., p. 6598, remarks of Representative Russell Lee Post, Jr. (“[t]he file copy [of the amendment] says that if we have [collective [bargaining for [supervisors, that we should make sure that [s]upervisors are of different units than the people they supervise”).
I note that the majority appears to treat the term “independent judgment” in a more restrictive manner than did the board. I do not understand the board’s interpretation to mean that the employee must operate completely autonomously. Thus, the mere fact that employees may work collectively to develop goals and objectives would not render their action outside the scope of § 5-270 (g) (2). Indeed, in § 5-270 (f), which expressly requires the exercise of independent judgment, the legislature also has used the term “participat[e],” which necessarily requires some collective action. See footnote 7 of this dissenting opinion.
The board subsequently reached a similar conclusion with regard to certain employees of the department of correction in In re Connecticut
The majority challenges this application of the legislative acquiescence doctrine based, in part, on its conclusion that the board’s interpretation of § 5-270 (g) (2) is not time-tested. I first note that this analysis seems to conflate the doctrine concerning judicial deference to an agency’s decision with that governing legislative acquiescence to a court or agency decision. While these doctrines may sometimes overlap in application, they are nonetheless triggered by separate and distinct circumstances and I cannot agree that the inapplicability of one should influence the applicability of the other.
It is true that legislative inaction following an agency decision may not constitute legislative acquiescence when the agency decision “is of relatively recent vintage and of relatively infrequent application”; Vincent v. New Haven, 285 Conn. 778, 791 n.15, 941 A.2d 932 (2008); because, in such a situation, it may be “too soon to draw any firm conclusion from legislative inaction . . . .” Id. Considering, however, that the legislature has had twenty-three years to respond to this court’s decision in O’Neitt, and seventeen years to respond to the board’s decision in In re Protective Services Employees Coalition, AFL-CIO, and that the legislature has, in fact, amended § 5-270 (g) three times in that interval, I conclude that the facts in this case weigh heavily in favor of applying the doctrine of legislative acquiescence. See Wiseman v. Armstrong, 269 Conn. 802, 825-26, 850 A.2d 114 (2004) (fact that legislature amended statute three times after attorney general’s opinion but did not change relevant provision indicative of legislative acquiescence); Connecticut Light & Power Co. v. Public Utilities Control Authority, supra, 176 Conn. 198 (“inference of legislative concurrence with the agency’s interpretation [is] to be drawn from legislative silence concerning that interpretation, especially where the legislature makes unrelated amendments in the same statute”).
Although the majority acknowledges that the board’s decision did not rest on the independent judgment requirement, it declines to address the propriety of the board’s decision.
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