In re Grievance of June Rosenberg and Vermont State Colleges Faculty Federation, UPV/AFT Local 3180, AFL-CIO

Summary

The Vermont Supreme Court affirmed a Vermont Labor Relations Board decision rejecting June Rosenberg's claims concerning faculty course assignments, seniority under a collective bargaining agreement, and discrimination based on protected union activity. The court held that Rosenberg was not entitled to the disputed course because she was not qualified to teach it, that the agreement unambiguously made seniority controlling only when other factors were equal, and that she offered insufficient evidence of retaliatory motive.

Holdings

1. Rosenberg could not prevail on the alleged violation because she failed to show that, even if K.C. was ineligible under the minimum-degree-requirements provision, Rosenberg would have been assigned the course.
2. Under the unambiguous language of Section F, seniority prevails only when the listed factors, including credentials, qualifications, teaching experience, evaluations, work performance, and availability, are deemed equal; the provision applies to all courses, including introductory courses.
3. Rosenberg failed to prove that her protected union activity was a motivating factor in the denial of course assignments and therefore could not prevail on her discrimination claim.

Questions Presented

1. Whether assigning the Basic Reading and Writing course to K.C. violated the collective bargaining agreement's minimum-degree-requirements provision.
2. Whether the collective bargaining agreement required seniority to control course assignments when a more senior part-time faculty member was qualified, particularly for introductory courses.
3. Whether Vermont State Colleges discriminated against Rosenberg because of her protected union activity by denying her course assignments.

Disposition

affirmed