United Academics v. University of Vermont

Summary

The Vermont Supreme Court affirmed a Vermont Labor Relations Board order dismissing a grievance concerning Dr. Dawn Saunders’s one-semester appointment at the University of Vermont. The court held that the appointment was made before a new collective bargaining agreement took effect and that the agreement did not supersede the individual appointment because it conferred a special benefit beyond the agreement’s ordinary terms.

Holdings

1. The Board did not err in finding that Saunders's one-semester appointment occurred on January 13, 2003, before the collective bargaining agreement became effective on February 6, 2003.
2. A subsequent collective bargaining agreement does not affect an individual employment contract that provides a special benefit above and beyond the collective agreement.
3. The Vermont Labor Relations Board did not err in finding that the department chair's decision not to reappoint Saunders was not the result of anti-union animus.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Vermont Labor Relations Board erred in finding that Saunders received her one-semester appointment before the effective date of the new collective bargaining agreement.
2. Whether ratification of the collective bargaining agreement superseded the terms of Saunders's preexisting individual employment contract.
3. Whether the Board erred in rejecting the claim that Saunders's non-reappointment resulted from anti-union animus.

Disposition

affirmed