Faulting an arbitrator for “irrational overreach[ing],” a state appellate court has vacated a decision ordering the New York City Department of Eduction to restore on-street parking permits for school supervisors and administrators cut by the city in 2008-09. The unanimous ruling by the Appellate Division, First Department, in In re Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, Local 1 v. New York City Department of Education, 5302, reversed a decision by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Joan Madden (See Profile), who had determined that the arbitrator’s decision should be confirmed.
The arbitrator agreed with the union representing the school employees that a city-wide plan that cut the number of parking permits and confined them to specific sites was subject to collective bargaining as an alteration of employee working conditions. But the appeals panel found the award overrode the sole authority of the Department of Transportation to issue permits and “directs” the Education Department “to exercise a legal authority it does not possess.”
