HARRISBURG - The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania remanded a case back to a lower court after it determined the City of Philadelphia prematurely objected to an arbitration award for an employee’s salary.
Vanessa Wright started working for the Department of Human Services in 1994. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) filed a grievance after she claimed she wasn’t paid at the proper level following a permanent promotion.
An arbitrator agreed and told the city to boost Wright’s salary to the next level. The city challenged the arbitrator’s award and while it was vacated, the court said it’s too soon to object to the award to begin with.
Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer
| Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania
“Arbitration is mandatory, judicial involvement must await completion of that process,” Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer wrote in the Feb. 7 ruling.
“Under the complete arbitration rule, an award is not considered final until the arbitrator has determined every issue submitted by the parties. Thus, an award is not considered final and binding if the arbitrator determines liability but leaves the question of what remedy should follow open and retains jurisdiction to resolve any subsequent remedial disputes.”
Wright was employed as a Computer User Support Specialist in December 2007. She was temporarily promoted to a Network Support Specialist for six months of every year from 2007 to 2012. During those six months, she was paid a higher base salary of $43,305.
In 2014, she was permanently promoted as an NSS with a salary of $41,840. AFSCME filed a grievance and said she should get paid what she did during her six-month promotions, yet the city maintained Wright’s salary.
The arbitrator granted AFSCME the award after it said the city violated its Civil Service Regulations concerning a Collective Bargaining Agreement between the companies when it mandated a grievant, Wright, accept her promotion at $41,840. The city objected and filed a motion to vacate the award.
The Court of Common Pleas granted the city’s motion to vacate the arbitration award for AFSCME, and AFSCME appealed. The Court of Common Pleas said the city prematurely asked for a review of the arbitration award, and suggested it be remanded to the arbitrator. The Commonwealth Court agreed and remanded it for further proceedings.
Judges Anne E. Covey and Christine Fizzao Cannon concurred with the ruling.