Massachusetts Community College Council v. Massachusetts Board of Higher Education/Roxbury Community College (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-128-13)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC‑11250 MASSACHUSETTS COMMUNITY COLLEGE COUNCIL vs. MASSACHUSETTS BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION/ROXBURY COMMUNITY COLLEGE. Suffolk. March 5, 2013. ‑ July 12, 2013. Present: Ireland, C.J., Spina, Cordy, Botsford, Gants, Duffly, & Lenk, JJ. Arbitration, Confirmation of award, Collective bargaining. Education, Public colleges and universities. Public Employment, Collective bargaining. Labor, Arbitration, Collective bargaining, Public employment. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on November 10, 2009. The case was heard by Kimberly S. Budd, J. After review by the Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court granted leave to obtain further appellate review. Will Evans for the plaintiff. Carol Wolff Fallon for the defendant. Deirdre Heatwole & Joseph Ambash, for University of Massachusetts, amicus curiae, submitted a brief. James B. Cox, Special Assistant Attorney General, & Alison Little Sabatello, for Bridgewater State University & others, amici curiae, submitted a brief. BOTSFORD, J. The plaintiff Massachusetts Community College Council (union) and the defendant Massachusetts Board of Higher Education/Roxbury Community College (college) were parties to a collective bargaining agreement (agreement) containing a provision that “[t]he granting or failure to grant tenure shall be arbitrable but any award is not binding.” After a professor, who was a member of the union, was denied tenure at the college, the union submitted his grievance to arbitration. An arbitrator concluded that the college violated the terms of the agreement, and ordered as a remedy that the professor be reinstated to his position, and that he be eligible for a new evaluation and tenure review process. A judge in the Superior Court affirmed the arbitrator’s award. The judge reasoned that the issue before the arbitrator was the manner in which the professor was reviewed and considered for tenure, not the substantive tenure decision itself, and that the arbitrator’s decision was binding on the college. The college appealed, and the Appeals Court concluded that under the “clear language” of the above-quoted provision of the agreement, the arbitrator’s award was not binding on the college, and therefore the judge erred in confirming the arbitrator’s award under G. L. c. 150C, § 10. Massachusetts Community College Council v. Massachusetts Bd. of Higher Educ./Roxbury Community College, 81 Mass. App. Ct. 554, 562-563 (2012) (Massachusetts Community College Council). We also conclude that the Superior Court judgment must be reversed. Background. On January 8, […]