National School District (PERB A389E)

STATE OF CALIFORNIA
DECISION OF THE
PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS BOARD
MIGUELINA VILLASENOR,
Charging Party,
v.
NATIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT,
Respondent.
Case No. LA-CE-5144-E
Administrative Appeal
PERB Order No. Ad-389
December 21, 2010
Appearance: Melinda S. Shapiro, Attorney, for Miguelina Villasenor.
Before Dowdin Calvillo, Chair; McKeag and Wesley, Members.
DECISION
McKEAG, Member: This case comes before the Public Employment Relations Board
(PERB or Board) on appeal by Miguelina Villasenor (Villasenor) of the Appeals Assistant's
administrative determination rejecting her appeal because it was not timely filed.
We have reviewed the Appeals Assistant's determination and the record and find good
cause does not exist to excuse Villasenor's late filing. 	Consequently, the Board declines to
accept the untimely appeal of the dismissal of the charge, as set forth below.
BACKGROUND
Villasenor filed her unfair practice charge on November 26, 2007, alleging the National
School District retaliated against her for filing a grievance regarding her employment status.
On March 26, 2009, Villasenor received a warning letter informing her that her charge did not
state a prima facie case. After requesting, and being granted, an extension of time, Villasenor
filed an amended charge on April 23, 2009.

The Board agent concluded that Villasenor' s amended charge did not address the
deficiencies outlined in the warning letter and dismissed the charge for failure to state a prima
facie case.
By letter dated August 7, 2009, Villasenor requested, and was granted, an extension of
time in which to file her appeal. The letter granting Villasenor's extension clearly stated that
the new due date for filing her appeal would be Monday, August 24, 2009. Villasenor's appeal
was mailed to PERB by certified mail on August 31, 2009, and received on September 3, 2003.
VILLASENOR'S APPEAL
In her appeal, Villasenor requests the Board to find good cause to accept and consider
her late-filed appeal. According to Villasenor, although she lives in Tijuana, Mexico, she
keeps a post office box in San Diego because she does not trust mail delivery in Mexico.
Villasenor claims that due to safety concerns she has difficulty regularly checking her
San Diego post office box and, therefore, was unable to file a timely appeal.
DISCUSSION
As indicated above, Villasenor requested, and was granted, an extension to file her
appeal. The extended due date was August 24, 2009. PERB Regulation 32130(c) 1 extends that
filing deadline by five days. 	Consequently, Villasenor's appeal was required to be filed at
PERB no later than August 31, 2009. Since the appeal did not arrive until September 3, 2009,
the Appeals Assistant properly concluded the filing was three days late and denied the appeal.
PERB Regulation 32136 provides that the Board may excuse a late filing for good
cause. 	The Board has found good cause when the explanation for the late filing was
"reasonable and credible" and the delay did not cause prejudice to any party. (Barstow Unified
1 PERB regulations are codified at California Code of Regulations, title 8,
section 31001 et seq.
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School District (1996) PERB Order No. Ad-277.) Good cause is typically found when the late
filing was caused by circumstances beyond the party's control. (United Teachers of
Los Angeles (Kestin) (2003) PERB Order No. Ad-325.)
In the instant case, Villasenor claims that due to safety concerns she has difficulty
regularly checking her San Diego post office box. However, she fails to explain how these
unspecified safety concerns prevented her from timely filing her appeal, even with the
additional time granted by the Appeals Assistant. Accordingly, we find Villasenor has not
demonstrated good cause to excuse her late-filed appeal. 	(Newport-Mesa United School
District (2008) PERB Order No. Ad-373.)
ORDER
Miguelina Villasenor's request that the Public Employment Relations Board accept her
late-filed appeal in Case No. LA-CE-5144-E is hereby DENIED.
Chair Dowdin Calviilo and Member Wesley joined in this Decision.
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