Dillman v. Town of Hooksett

Summary

The New Hampshire Supreme Court held that an individual public-sector union member may not be assigned the union’s statutory right under RSA 542:8 to seek judicial review, correction, modification, or vacation of an arbitration award. The court concluded that such an assignment is invalid because it conflicts with the public policies underlying New Hampshire’s Public Employee Labor Relations Act, including labor peace and orderly government operations. The court answered the certified question in the negative and remanded the matter.

Holdings

1. Being a party to the arbitration is a precondition to applying under RSA 542:8 for an order confirming, correcting, modifying, or vacating the arbitration award.
2. An individual public-sector employee may not obtain the union's right under RSA 542:8 through an assignment when the assignment would permit the employee to seek judicial review of an arbitration award to which the employee was not a party.
3. The purported assignment is invalid because it contravenes the legislative public policies of fostering harmonious and cooperative relations between public employers and employees and protecting the public through orderly and uninterrupted government operations.
4. An individual employee who was not a party to an arbitration generally lacks standing to challenge the arbitration unless the employee brings a claim against the union for breach of its duty of fair representation.

Questions Presented

1. Whether RSA 542:8 permits an individual public-sector union member who was not a party to the arbitration to seek judicial confirmation, correction, modification, or vacation of the arbitration award.
2. Whether a public-sector union may assign to an individual employee its statutory right under RSA 542:8 to seek judicial review of an arbitration award entered under a collective bargaining agreement.
3. Whether the purported assignment is invalid because it contravenes the public policies embodied in New Hampshire's Public Employee Labor Relations Act, RSA chapter 273-A.

Disposition

remanded