Attorneys for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association have until Sept. 12 to file an opening brief in the $4.4 million union paid leave lawsuit the state has brought against the union, according to an appellate court notice posted this week.
The suit involves money CCPOA allegedly owes as reimbursement to the state for wages and benefits paid to members who were on leave so they could engage in union business.
The union says the matter should go to arbitration. Their argument relies on the union's collective bargaining agreement, which expired in 2006 and wasn't picked up again until earlier this year.
The state, specifically the Department of Mental Health, the Department of Personnel Administration and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said the intervening agreement to continue union paid leave was a separate contract, making it a matter for courts to decide.
A Sacramento Superior Court judge sided with the state in December, prompting an appeal from the union in February.
After CCPOA attorneys file their brief, the state will have a chance to reply before the appellate court either sends the case back to the trial court or sends the matter to arbitration.
Gregg Adam, an attorney for CCPOA in the case, also helped the union negotiate its new collective bargaining agreement. In today's paper, he explained the reasoning behind a provision in the deal that allows several hundred union members to collect pay while at CCPOA's convention in Las Vegas. Unlike other unions, CCPOA does not have to reimburse the state for these costs.
PHOTO CREDIT: Inside the hallway of the administrative segregation wing of California State Prison-Sacramento in June 2010. (Bryan Patrick / Sacramento Bee).
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