County of Riverside (PERB 2591MB)

STATE OF CALIFORNIA
DECISION OF THE
PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS BOARD
SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL
UNION LOCAL 721,
Charging Party, 	Case No. LA-CE-787-M
Request for Reconsideration
PERB Decision No. 2591b
v.
January 4, 2019
COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE,
Respondent.
Appearances: Rothner, Segall & Greenstone by Glenn Rothner and Jonathan Cohen,
Attorneys, for Service Employees International Union Local 721; Liebert Cassidy Whitmore
by Frances E. Rogers and Stacey H. Sullivan, Attorneys, for County of Riverside.
Before Banks, Shiners, and Krantz, Members.
DECISION
KRANTZ, Member: This case is before the Public Employment Relations Board
(PERB or Board) on a request by Respondent County of Riverside (County) to accept a late-
filed opposition to a request for reconsideration filed by Charging Party Service Employees
International Union Local 721 (SEIU).
On October 23, 2018, the Board issued the underlying decision in this matter. (County
of Riverside (2018) PERB Decision No. 2591-M.) In that decision, we found that the County
violated the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act1 and PERB Regulations2 by taking various adverse
________________________
1 The MMBA is codified at Government Code section 3500 et seq.
2 PERB’s Regulations are codified at California Code of Regulations, title 8, section
31001 et seq.

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actions against County employee Wendy Thomas (Thomas), including placing her on
involuntary paid administrative leave and then terminating her employment, based upon her
exercise of protected rights. We ordered make-whole relief beginning from the date the
County terminated Thomas’ employment.
On November 6, 2018, SEIU filed a request for reconsideration. In its reconsideration
request, SEIU argued that make-whole relief should commence on the date that the County
placed Thomas on administrative leave, rather than six months later when the County
terminated her. SEIU asserted that it can demonstrate during compliance proceedings that
Thomas lost overtime opportunities and other remuneration as a result of being placed on paid
administrative leave.
We received no opposition from the County by the deadline for its response. (See
PERB Reg. 32410, subd. (b) [providing twenty days to respond to the request for
reconsideration].) Accordingly, on December 4, 2018, we notified all parties that filings were
complete.
On December 18, 2018, upon review of the record and in light of applicable law, we
granted SEIU’s reconsideration request and issued a revised order providing that make-whole
relief shall be calculated beginning from the date on which the County placed Thomas on
administrative leave. (County of Riverside (2018) PERB Decision No. 2591a-M, p. 4.)
On December 19, 2018, the County submitted the instant request, asking that we accept
a late-filed opposition to SEIU’s request for reconsideration pursuant to PERB
Regulation 32136, which allows a late filing to be excused “in the discretion of the Board for
good cause only.” The County asks us to find good cause for its late filing mainly on the basis

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that it changed attorneys and its new attorneys did not learn about SEIU’s request for
reconsideration until on or around December 4, 2018.
Also on December 19, 2018, the County submitted its proposed late-filed opposition, in
which it argued: (1) that PERB did not find that the County violated the MMBA by placing
Thomas on administrative leave; and (2) that it is speculative for SEIU to assert that Thomas
lost remuneration as a result of being placed on paid administrative leave.
We need not decide whether the County has demonstrated good cause for its requested
late filing, as consideration of the County’s late-filed arguments would not affect the outcome
of our reconsideration decision. As we noted in resolving SEIU’s reconsideration request,
Thomas is entitled to make-whole relief from the earlier date because Thomas’s involuntary
administrative leave, like her termination, was unlawfully motivated in violation of the
MMBA. (County of Riverside, supra, PERB Decision No. 2591a-M, p. 4 & fn. 4.) The
County’s second argument—that it is speculative for SEIU to claim that Thomas lost
remuneration during her administrative leave—is best addressed during compliance
proceedings. (See PERB Reg. 32980.)
ORDER
For the foregoing reasons, the County’s request that we accept a late-filed opposition to
SEIU’s request for reconsideration is DENIED.
Members Banks and Shiners joined in this decision.