California State Employees Association (Hard, et al.) (PERB 1583S)

STATE OF CALIFORNIA
DECISION OF THE
PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS BOARD
JIM HARD, CATHY HACKETT & LARRY
PERKINS,
Charging Party,
V.
CALIFORNIA ST ATE EMPLOYEES
ASSOCIATION,
Respondent.
Case No. SA-CO-249-S
PERB Decision No.
	1583-S
January
	13,
	2004
Appearances: Katzenbach and Khtikian by Christopher W. Katzenbach, Attorney, for Jim
Hard, Cathy Hackett & Larry Perkins; Carroll, Burdick & McDonough by Timothy K. Talbot,
Attorney, for California State Employees Association.
Before Baker, Whitehead and Neima, Members.
DECISION
WHITEHEAD, Member: This case is before the Public Employment Relations Board
(PERB or Board) on exceptions filed by the California State Employees Association (CSEA)
of
an administrative law judge's (ALJ) proposed decision. The charge alleged that CSEA
violated the Ralph C. Dills Act (Dills Act)1 by unlawfully suspending Jim Hard (Hard), Cathy
Hackett (Hackett) and Larry Perkins (Perkins), collectively the "charging parties," from
holding CSEA elective office or positions for two years. The charging parties alleged that this
conduct constituted a violation
of
Dills Act sections 3519.5(b) and 3515.5. The ALJ found
that the charging parties stated a prima facie violation
of
retaliation under Section 3519.5(b)
and that CSEA would not have taken the action but for the charging parties' protected conduct.
1The Dills Act is codified at Government Code section 3512 et seq.

2
The ALJ also found that CSEA's discipline
of
the charging parties was unreasonable and in
violation
of
Section 3515.5.
On July 14, 2003, CSEA filed its statement
of
exceptions to the ALJ's proposed
decision and on August 5, 2003, the charging parties filed their response to CSEA's
exceptions. 	On January 2, 2004, CSEA filed a request to withdraw its statement
of
exceptions
and declared that it no longer wished to challenge the ALJ' s proposed decision.
Upon review
of
the record, the Board finds CSEA's withdrawal
of
its exceptions to be
in the best interests
of
the parties. The Board thereby accepts CSEA's withdrawal
of
its
exceptions.
ORDER
The reque·st by the California State Employees Association to withdraw exceptions to
the administrative law judge's proposed decision in Case No. SA-CO-249-S is hereby
GRANTED.
Members Baker and Neima joined in this Decision.
2