San Mateo Federation of Teachers v. Public Employment Relations Board

A party aggrieved by a decision of the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) must file a petition for writ of extraordinary relief challenging the decision within 30 days after issuance of the board’s final order. (Gov. Code, § 3542, subds. (b) & (c).) We address here PERB’s motion to dismiss as untimely a challenge to one of its rulings. San Mateo Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 1493, AFL-CIO (Local 1493), filed its petition 35 days after issuance of PERB’s final order, The issue raised is whether Code of Civil Procedure section 1013, subdivision *152 (a), extends the time by five days because PERB served its decision by mail. We conclude Code of Civil Procedure section 1013, subdivision (a), 1 does not apply to the jurisdictional time limit for filing a PERB writ petition. We grant PERB’s motion to dismiss.

On December 28, 1993, PERB issued a decision unfavorable to Local 1493 on its challenge to the San Mateo County Community College District’s refusal to negotiate Local 1493’s request for additional released time for union activities. On February 1, 1994, Local 1493 filed a petition for writ of review challenging PERB’s decision. Local 1493 acknowledged the…