Opinion

Commonwealth v. Neshaminy School District

  • 43 Pa. Commw. 377
  • 403 A.2d 1003
  • 1979 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1655
Court
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
Filed
Jun 15, 1979
Status
Published
Author
Craig
On the bench
Blatt, Bowman, Craig, Crumlish, Disalle, MacPhail, Mencer, Rogers, Wilkinson
Cited by
3 cases
Authority
More cited than 9.1%

demoted professional employee could not pursue both an appeal under the Public School Code to the Secre tary of Education and the grievance procedure created by the applicable collective bargaining agreement

How later courts described this case

  • demoted professional employee could not pursue both an appeal under the Public School Code to the Secre tary of Education and the grievance procedure created by the applicable collective bargaining agreement
  • demoted professional employee could not pursue both an appeal under the Public School Code to the Secre *385 tary of Education and the grievance procedure created by the applicable collective bargaining agreement

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

Concurring Opinion by

Judge Craig:

I am in agreement with the decision of the majority here, primarily on the basis that, with two alternative remedies available, 1 the employee is limited to the one remedy which he elected and pursued to its conclusion.

I believe it well to note that language in a collective bargaining agreement referring to the Public School Code in terms like those of Section 4-1 of the collective bargaining agreement in this case (quoted in the ma *383 jority opinion) does not cause the statutory remedy— the one elected here — to be exclusive, as against the option to pursue grievance arbitration under the agreement. With collective bargaining agreement language similar to that involved here, the alternative remedies remain available. Rylke v. Portage Area School District, 473 Pa. 481 , 375 A.2d 692 (1977).

Section 11-1151 of the Public School Code, Act of March 10, 1949, P.L. 30, as amended, 24 P.S. §11-1151, which, as noted in the majority opinion, governs the demotion here, incorporates the Code’s procedures and standards on dismissals, §§11-1127 — 11-1129, embodying in essence the same “just cause” standard as that which was expressed in the collective bargaining agreement in this case.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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