CCPOA
Department of Personnel Administration v. California Correctional Peace Officers Ass'n
Opinion
Opinion
Scotland, J.
In this appeal, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) claims that the superior court erred in vacating an arbitrator’s award on the ground that the arbitrator exceeded her powers in making the award. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1286.2, subd. (a)(4).)
An arbitrator exceeds his or her powers if the arbitration award violates a statutory right or otherwise violates a well-defined public policy. (Jordan v. Department of Motor Vehicles (2002) 100 Cal.App.4th 431, 443 [ 123 Cal.Rptr.2d 122 ].) That occurred here, as we will explain in the published part of this opinion, when the arbitrator determined that a written collective bargaining memorandum of understanding (MOU) between CCPOA and the Department of Personnel Administration (DPA) did not comport with the parties’ actual agreement.
The arbitrator reformed the MOU after it had been ratified and approved by the Legislature pursuant to the Ralph C. Dills Act (Dills Act). (Gov. Code, § 3524 [formerly known as the State Employer-Employee Relations Act (Gov. Code, § 3512 et seq.)].) In changing the terms of the MOU after it was approved by the Legislature, the arbitrator exceeded her powers by violating the…