Background
Eight University of Hawai‘i employees held temporary positions in the Office of Research Services that were scheduled to end on June 30, 2018. After being told in July 2017 that their jobs would instead end December 31, 2017, they filed a grievance under their Bargaining Unit 8 collective bargaining agreement. The Hawaii Government Employees Association ultimately declined to arbitrate it.
The employees filed prohibited-practice complaints against HGEA, alleging it failed to fairly represent them. They later added UH, alleging that UH improperly used a bargaining-unit employee in the termination process and violated the collective bargaining agreement by ending their positions early. The Hawai‘i Labor Relations Board found no breach by HGEA but nevertheless ruled the early terminations improper. The circuit court affirmed.
The Court’s Holding
The Intermediate Court of Appeals reversed. The proceeding was a hybrid action: the employees’ claim that UH breached the collective bargaining agreement was interdependent with their claim that HGEA breached its duty of fair representation in handling the grievance.
Because the HLRB found that HGEA did not breach that duty, and no party challenged that finding, the employees could not prevail against UH on the contract-based claim. The HLRB therefore committed an error of law by finding the early terminations improper instead of dismissing the amended complaints against UH.
Key Takeaways
- An employee pursuing a hybrid labor claim must prove both a collective-bargaining-agreement breach and a union breach of its duty of fair representation.
- A finding that the union did not breach its duty defeats the related claim against the employer.
- The court vacated HLRB Decision No. 517 and ordered dismissal of the amended complaints with prejudice.
Why It Matters
The decision reinforces the interdependent nature of hybrid public-sector labor claims in Hawai‘i. Even if an employer’s conduct is alleged to violate a collective bargaining agreement, employees who did not exhaust contractual remedies must establish that their union mishandled the grievance in breach of its duty of fair representation.