Mid-Year Review of PERB

Half of fiscal year 2009-10 is over.  As I mentioned in prior posts, this year I’ve been keeping statistics of all the Board’s decisions.  So let’s take a look at some of the key statistics through December 31, 2009.

Total Number of Board Decisions (from 7/1/09-12/31/09):
43

Decisions by Statute:
MMBA: 21
EERA: 11
Dills Act: 8
HEERA: 3

Decisions by Type:

Appeals from Dismissals:  31 (11 of which were DFR’s)

Exceptions to ALJ Decisions:  7
Approval of Settlement:  1
Administrative Appeal:  2
Reconsideration:  2

Decisions by Outcome:

Decisions affirmed:  39
Decisions overturned:  2

-  1 ALJ decision overturned (2077-M)
-  1 dismissal overturned (2079-M)
Decisions partially overturned:  2
-  Decisions 2069-H and 2070-H

Decisions by Board Member:
Dowdin:  20
Neuwald:  9
McKeag:  7
Wesley:  7
 
Other Interesting Facts:

• 42 of the 43 decisions were unanimous. Only 1 decision drew a dissent: 2058-M by Member Neuwald

Comments:

1. The main thing that stands out to me is the affirmance rate, which was above 90%.  That means a party's chances of getting a decision overturned was less than 10%.  At that's only if you count the 2 partial dismissals. 
2. Also, with only 1 case drawing a dissent, this Board has been remarkably unanimous in its decisions.
3. Finally, it's worth noting that oral argument remains the rarest of all Board actions.  The last time the Board granted oral argument was in 2004 in a case involving the right of teachers to wear union buttons at work.  (PERB Dec. No. 1727-E).  The next most recent time (as far as I know) was in 1994 when the Board granted oral argument twice, one in a case involving CSU (PERB Dec. No. 1093-H) and one involving the University of California (PERB Dec. No. 1039-H).  So only 3 times in the last 15 years and not once during the Schwarzenegger administration.  I would enjoy watching another oral argument before the Board (I saw the one in 2004) so I'm hoping the Board grants a request in the next year.