The Los Angeles College Faculty Guild is the exclusive bargaining representative for Los Angeles Community College District faculty. The parties had a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) which included a grievance and arbitration process. The Guild sought to arbitrate three grievances involving: safety-related construction projects; the termination of a faculty member; and the calculation of a faculty member’s retirement service credit.
The District denied arbitration. It claimed the grievances fell outside the scope of the CBA and the Educational Employee Relations Act (EERA). The Guild sued to compel arbitration.
The Superior Court granted the motion to compel arbitration for the retirement service credit grievance only as to whether the District owed backpay, but denied the motion for the other grievances. The court found that the grievances were beyond the scope of the CBA and were preempted by the Education Code and other statutes.
The California Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s ruling. It relied on precedent which holds that a grievance is not arbitrable if it conflicts with, or is preempted by, state laws. The Court held that the grievance related to the faculty termination was not arbitrable because it was preempted by the Education Code.
The grievance related to construction projects was not arbitrable because, while tangentially related to “safety conditions of employment,” it ultimately concerned the progress of projects the District was completing with funds pursuant to the Construction Bonds Act. Thus, this grievance was preempted as well.
The grievance related to retirement service credit was arbitrable only as to whether the faculty member was entitled to backpay because the Public Employees’ Retirement Law governed the reporting of service credits to CalPERS. The Court also denied the Guild’s request for injunctive relief because the CBA limited the arbitrator’s remedial power to backpay or an award of up to $2500. The CBA did not mention injunctive relief, so the arbitrator could not order it.
The Court concluded that the Guild failed to demonstrate that the grievances were within the scope of representation as enumerated by the EERA and affirmed the trial court’s mixed ruling.
Los Angeles College Faculty Guild, AFT Local 1521 v. Los Angeles Community College District, 110 Cal.App.5th 1201 (2025).