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Judge Upholds Arbitrator’s Opinion and Award in Suffolk County, Massachusetts

On June 7, 2024, Superior Court Judge Robert B. Gordon upheld an arbitrator’s Opinion and Award (the Award) in favor of the Union concerning the termination of a police officer who worked for the Town of Plimpton, Massachusetts (the Town). The Town asserted that the Award ordering that the officer be reinstated to active duty should be overturned “on the ground that such an order violates public policy.”

Applying a three-part test outlined in Bureau of Special Investigations v. Coalition of Pub. Safety, 430 Mass. 601, 604-05 (2000), Judge Gordon ruled:

…...the Town's public policy challenge to the arbitral reinstatement of Maligno is
without merit. The Plympton Police Association's Motion for Judgment on the
Pleadings, therefore, is ALLOWED, the Town of Plympton's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings is DENIED, and the award of the Arbitrator reinstating Jeffrey Maligno to active duty is AFFIRMED.

Click here to access the full opinion

What is Interest Arbitration?

I am a fan of interest arbitration, simply because it is a way to avoid the inevitable strike when one party cannot agree to a successor collective bargaining agreement. Here in Oregon, we have a statute with the acronym PECBA, which stands for Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act. In fact, a few months ago, in May 2024, we celebrated the fact that the PECBA has been in effect for fifty (50) years. My son thought I was crazy for wanting to attend an event that celebrated the passage of a statute. What was surprising was that all but one arbitrator that attended that event was a female. You can view all the steps to the PECBA collective bargaining process by clicking here: https://www.oregon.gov/erb/pages/pecba.aspx

The bottom line is that interest arbitration only comes into play when strike-prohibited parties simply cannot agree. That said, interest arbitration saves time, cost and allows the Parties the opportunity to reach a final agreement, based on the Arbitrator’s determination of whose “last best offer” is the best for the public at large, and the particular public employees.