Background
Officer Leonardo Braga was disciplined by the Miramar Police Department after an investigation determined he violated department policies. The Florida State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police filed a grievance under the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the city and the union, which the city denied. The union demanded arbitration, and a hearing was scheduled.
The parties disagreed about whether the arbitration hearing should be open or closed to the public. The union demanded that other union members be allowed to attend; the city refused to proceed with non-parties present. The union filed a petition for declaratory judgment, and the trial court ruled that labor arbitration hearings conducted pursuant to a public employee CBA are required to be open to the public under section 286.011(1), Florida Statutes—the Sunshine Law (FS § 286.011). The city appealed.
The Court’s Holding
The Fourth DCA reversed. Applying de novo statutory interpretation, the court held that section 286.011(1) does not require labor arbitration hearings to be open to the public. The Sunshine Law, by its plain text, applies to meetings of “any board or commission of any state agency or authority or of any agency or authority of any county, municipal corporation, or political subdivision.” An arbitration hearing between a public employer and a union is not a meeting of a collegial public body—it is a dispute resolution proceeding between two parties conducted by a private arbitrator pursuant to contractual agreement.
The court distinguished between (1) meetings of governmental boards or commissions making decisions on behalf of the public—which the Sunshine Law covers—and (2) bilateral proceedings between an employer and a union conducted by a neutral third party—which it does not. The arbitrator is not a “board or commission” within the meaning of the statute, and the hearing is not a governmental decision-making session subject to public-access requirements.
Key Takeaways
- Florida’s Sunshine Law (section 286.011) does not require labor arbitration hearings between public employers and employee unions to be open to the public.
- The Sunshine Law applies to meetings of collegial governmental bodies making public decisions—not to bilateral dispute resolution proceedings between two contracting parties.
- A private arbitrator conducting a CBA grievance hearing is not a “board or commission” of a governmental entity within the meaning of the statute.
Why It Matters
This is a significant Sunshine Law ruling that narrows the statute’s reach in the labor context. Florida’s Sunshine Law (FS § 286.011) is among the broadest open-government statutes in the nation, and its scope has been the subject of ongoing litigation. For public-sector labor practitioners on both sides, this decision clarifies that CBA arbitration hearings—including police disciplinary arbitrations—can be conducted privately. This may affect union strategy, as unions sometimes seek public hearings to create political pressure. For municipal attorneys, the ruling provides clear authority to resist demands to open arbitration hearings. However, the decision does not address whether other open-records provisions might require disclosure of arbitration transcripts or awards after the fact.