United Faculty Association of North Orange County Community College District (PERB A289E)

STATE
	OF
	CALIFORNIA
DECISION
	OF
	THE
PUBLIC
	EMPLOYMENT
	RELATIONS
	BOARD
ELIZABETH 	KISZELY,
Charging
	Party,
v.
UNITED
	FACULTY
	ASSOCIATION
	OF
NORTH
	ORANGE 	COUNTY 	COMMUNITY
COLLEGE
	DISTRICT,
Respondent.
)
)
)	
Case
	No. 	LA-CO-714
Administrative
	Appeal
PERB
	Order
	No. 	Ad-289
June
	18,
	1998
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
Appearance:	
Elizabeth
	Kiszely,
	on
	her
	own
	behalf.
Before 	Caffrey,
	Chairman; 	Dyer and
	Amador,
	Members.
DECISION
CAFFREY,
	Chairman:
	This 	case
	is
	before 	the 	Public
Employment
	Relations
	Board
	(PERB
	or
	Board) 	on
	a
	request
	by
Elizabeth
	Kiszely
	(Kiszely)
	that
	the
	Board
	accept 	the
	late 	filed
corrections 	to 	her
	appeal 	of
	a
	Board
	agent's 	dismissal
	of
	her
unfair 	practice
	charge.
BACKGROUND
The
	Board
	agent's 	dismissal
	was
	served
	on
	the
	parties
	on
March
	13, 	1998.
1
Pursuant
	to
	PERB
	Regulation
	32635(a)
, 2
1
All 	dates
	refer 	to
	1998.
PERB
	regulations 	are 	codified 	at 	California
	Code
	of
Regulations,
	title
	8,
	section
	31001
	et
	seq. 	Regulation
	32635
states, 	in 	pertinent 	part:
2
Within
	20
	days 	of 	the 	date 	of 	service 	of
	a
dismissal, 	the 	charging 	party
may
	appeal 	the
dismissal 	to 	the 	Board
	itself.
	The
	originalappeal 	and 	five 	copies 	shall
	be
	filed 	in
writing 	with 	the 	Board
	itself 	in 	the
headquarters 	office, 	and 	shall 	be 	signed by

Kiszely's
	appeal 	of 	the
	dismissal
	was
	due
	to
	be
	filed
	no
	later
than
	April
	7.
	On
	April
	7,
	Kiszely 	timely
	filed
	an
	appeal
	of 	the
Board
	agent's
	dismissal.
	However, 	on
	April
	8, 	one
	day
	after
	the
filing
	deadline,
	Kiszely
	filed
	a
	correction 	to
	her 	appeal.
	On
April
	14,
	the
	PERB
	appeals
	assistant
	rejected
	the
	correction
	as
untimely
	filed.
On
	April
	22,
	Kiszely
	filed
	the
	instant
	appeal 	of 	the
rejection
	of
	her
	untimely
	April
	8
	filing.
	Kiszely
	states 	that
she
	"was
	sick
	much
	of 	the
	weekend
	and 	day
	before 	the 	appeal
	was
due." 	Consequently,
	Kiszely
	indicates 	that
	her 	timely April
	7
appeal
	contains
	errors
	which
	are 	corrected
	by
	the
	untimely
April
	8
	filing.
	Kiszely 	asks
	the
	Board
	to
	accept 	her
	late 	filed
corrections 	in
	the
	interest
	of
	clarity,
	and
	to
	provide
	answers
	to
questions
	which
	may
	occur
	to
	a
	reader
	of
	her appeal.
DISCUSSION
PERE
	Regulation
	32136
	states,
	in 	pertinent 	part:
A
	late 	filing
	may
	be 	excused
	in 	the
discretion
	of 	the
	Board
	for
	good
	cause 	only.
In applying
	this
	regulation, 	the
	Board
	has 	found 	good
	cause
	to
excuse
	a
	late 	filing
	which
	resulted
	from
	exceptions 	being
directed 	to 	the
	wrong
	PERB
	office.
	(North 	Orange 	County
	Regional
Occupational
	Program 	(1990)
	PERB
	Decision
	No.
	807.)
	The
	Board
has
	also
	found
	that
	the 	inadvertent, 	incorrect
	use 	of
	a
	postage
the 	charging 	party 	or
	its
	agent. 	Except 	as
provided 	in 	Section
	32162,
	service
	and 	proof
of 	service 	of 	the 	appeal
	on
	the 	respondent
pursuant 	to 	Section
	32140
	are 	required.
2

meter
	resulting 	in
	an
	incorrect
	postmark
	represented
	good
	cause
to
	excuse
	a
	late 	filing.
	(Trustees 	of
	the
	California 	University
(1989)
	PERB
	Order
	No.
	Ad-192-H.)
However,
	the
	Board
	has
	considered 	circumstances
	relating
	to
the
	illness
	of
	a
	party's
	family
	member
	and
	concluded
	that
	they
did 	not
	constitute
	good
	cause
	to
	excuse
	a
	late 	filing.
	(Pasadena
Community
	College
	District
	(1992)
	PERB
	Order
	No.
	Ad-234;
	North
Monterey
	County
	Unified
	School
	District
	(1996)
	PERE
	Order
No.
	Ad-274.)
In
	this
	case, 	Kiszely
	was
	able 	to
	timely
	file
	an
	appeal
	on
April
	7,
	despite
	any
	illness
	she
	may
	have 	been
	experiencing.
	As
a
	result,
	it
	is
	unclear
	how
	that
	illness
	contributed 	to 	her
	April
8
	late 	filing.
	Therefore, 	the
	Board
	concludes
	that
	Kiszely
	has
not 	demonstrated
	good
	cause
	to
	excuse
	her 	April
	8
	late 	filing
	of
the
	corrections 	to 	her 	appeal.
ORDER
Elizabeth 	Kiszely's 	request
	that
	the
	Board
	accept 	her
	late
filed
	corrections 	to 	her
	appeal 	of 	the 	dismissal 	in
	Case
No.
	LA-C0-714
	is
	hereby
	DENIED.
Members
	Dyer 	and
	Amador
	joined 	in 	this
	Decision.
3