International Federation of Professional & Tehnial Engineers v. City & County of San Francisco

The Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (Gov. Code, §§ 3500-3510, 1 hereinafter MMBA) imposes some structure to labor relations between employees and public agencies while allowing a considerable degree of local regulation. But where the MMBA sets a standard, local divergence is not allowed. This appeal involves such a divergence. Section 3507.3 establishes a specific mechanism for resolving disputes involving the assignment of “professional employees” to a bargaining unit; in such cases the dispute is to be submitted to a designated state agency. Here, a local ordinance was interpreted to assign that function to an administrative law judge for a binding decision. We agree with the trial court that the procedure followed was jurisdictionally improper, which required that the administrative decision be vacated.

Background

This judgment culminates an almost decade-long struggle that generated a maze of extensive administrative and legal proceedings. Not all of the history needs to be narrated at this time. The following abbreviated summary is sufficient.

In late 1991 the Employment Relations Director for the City and County of San Francisco (City) assigned to a new “Management…