Public Employment Relations Board v. Superior Court

This matter arises on the petition of the Public Employment Relations Board (Board) for a writ of mandate directing the respondent superior court to enforce administrative subpoenas served upon the Department of Personnel Administration (DPA). The subpoenas were issued in a proceeding to determine whether, in failing to meet and confer with state employee organizations prior to proposing statutes altering the terms of employment, the administration of Governor Wilson committed unfair labor practices under the Ralph C. Dills Act (Gov. Code, §§ 3512-3524; hereafter Dills Act or Act). DPA successfully opposed the enforcement of the subpoenas on the ground the Board lacks jurisdiction to proceed in the administrative action because the Dills Act does not extend to a Governor’s proposals for legislation.

The dispositive question is whether, in the enforcement action, the superior court must defer to the Board’s initial determination that it had such jurisdiction, a question concerning the exhaustion of administrative remedies. While recognizing that the construction of the Dills Act is a matter of law ultimately requiring judicial resolution, we shall defer to the Board’s…