Agricultural Labor Relations Board v. Tex-Cal Land Management, Inc.

I respectfully dissent. The superior court’s function under Labor Code section 1160.8 1 is simply to enforce orders of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB or Board) that are no longer subject to review on their merits. To allow the noncomplying party to take an appeal *710 from the superior court’s action will “thwart one of the Legislature’s purposes in enacting the ALRA [Agricultural Labor Relations Act]—the speedy resolution of agricultural labor disputes.” (Agricultural Labor Relations Board v. Abatti Produce Inc. (1985) 168 Cal.App.3d 504, 514 [ 214 Cal.Rptr. 283 ].)

“Labor Code section 1160.8 enumerates the circumstances under which courts have jurisdiction to review decisions of the Board.” (Belridge Farms v. Agricultural Labor Relations Bd. (1978) 21 Cal.3d 551, 555 [ 147 Cal.Rptr. 165 , 580 P.2d 665 ].) It provides for only two types of judicial proceedings: (1) appellate review by discretionary writ; and (2) superior court enforcement of final Board orders. The former affords the aggrieved party an opportunity to seek full review of the merits of the Board’s order; the latter permits the superior court to determine only “that the order was issued pursuant to…

We granted review in this case to resolve a conflict in the Courts of Appeal about whether superior court judgments enforcing decisions of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB or Board) are appealable. We uphold the conclusion of the Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District, in this case that superior court enforcement orders may be appealed, but that the issues on such an appeal are limited. We further hold that the appellate-stay provisions of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Of Civil Actions, § 307 et seq.) apply to such orders. We therefore affirm the Court of Appeal’s judgments. We disapprove Agricultural Labor Relations Bd. v. Abatti Produce, Inc. (1985) 168 Cal.App.3d 504 [ 214 Cal.Rptr. 283 ], to the extent that decision is inconsistent with our conclusions.

*700 Procedural History

On November 24, 1982, the ALRB found that appellant Tex-Cal Land Management, Inc. (Tex-Cal) had violated the Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA) by (1) contracting out harvesting work without giving its employees’ authorized representative notice and opportunity to bargain and (2) discharging the members of a work crew in retaliation for their protests of working…