Donald Bouchard, Lee Amato, and Dan Lubinsky (Petitioners),; PERC declined to issue a declaratory statement regarding the two questions raised by the Petitioners. The first question is whether alleged misconduct engaged in by Local Number 1510, ...

 

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT SERVICES

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC) has declined to rule on the petition for declaratory statement filed by Donald Bouchard, Lee Amato, and Dan Lubinsky (Petitioners), on February 25, 2016. The following is a summary of the agency’s declination of the petition:

PERC declined to issue a declaratory statement regarding the two questions raised by the Petitioners. The first question is whether alleged misconduct engaged in by Local Number 1510, Fire Fighters of Miami Beach, International Association of Fire Fighters (Union), during the 2009-2012 collective bargaining negotiations with the City of Miami Beach, together with the Union’s purportedly misleading information to the Petitioners regarding participation in the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, for the apparent purpose of benefitting Union board members, would be considered a violation under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Commission pursuant to Section 447.501(1)(a), Florida Statutes. PERC declined to rule on this question because it concerned a conflict between the Petitioners and the Union based upon the Union’s purported past conduct, rather than a future matter which has not ripened into an actual case or controversy. To the extent that the Petitioners are entitled to any relief, they would need to file an unfair labor practice charge for a sufficiency review. The second question is whether the civil or criminal court system has jurisdiction of the aforementioned matters due to the Petitioners’ allegations that the Union’s alleged misconduct constituted “inherent fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, and civil conspiracy” under Section 175.195 or 447.11, Florida Statutes. PERC declined to opine as to the applicability of those statutes because it has no authority to rule on either of those statutory provisions. The final order declining the petition issued on March 30, 2016, in Case Number DS-2016-001.

A copy of the Order Declining the Petition for Declaratory Statement may be obtained by contacting: The Clerk, Public Employees Relations Commission, 4708 Capital Circle NW, Suite 300, Tallahassee, Florida 32303-7256.

Please refer all comments to: The Clerk, Public Employees Relations Commission, 4708 Capital Circle NW, Suite 300, Tallahassee, Florida 32303-7256.