State of California (State Teachers Retirement System) (Ramirez) (PERB A297S)

STATE
	OF
	CALIFORNIA
DECISION
	OF 	THE
PUBLIC	
EMPLOYMENT
	RELATIONS
	BOARD
LYDIA 	RAMIREZ,
Charging
	Party,
v.
STATE
	OF
	CALIFORNIA 	(STATE
TEACHERS 	RETIREMENT SYSTEM),
Respondent.
)
)
)	
Case
	Nos. 	SA-CE-1022-S
Administrative
	Appeal
PERB
	Order
	No. 	Ad-297-S
July
	22, 	1999
)
)
)
) .
)
)
)
___________________ )
Appearance:	
Law
	Offices
	of
	Raymond 	A.
	Mills
	by
	Raymond
	A.
	Mills,
Attorney,
	for
	Lydia 	Ramirez.
Before
	Caffrey,
	Chairman; 	Dyer
	and
	Amador, 	Members.
DECISION
AMADOR,
	Member:
	This 	case
	is
	before 	the 	Public
	Employment
Relations
	Board
	(PERB
	or
	Board) 	on
	a
	request
	by 	Lydia 	Ramirez
(Ramirez)
	that
	the
	Board
	accept 	her
	late-filed
	exceptions
	to
	an
administrative
	law
	judge's
	(ALJ)
	proposed
	decision.
BACKGROUND
The
	ALJ
	rendered
	a
	proposed
	decision 	in
	Case
No.
	SA-CE-1022-S 	on December 	17, 	1998.
	The
	original
	due
	date 	for
filing
	exceptions 	to 	the 	proposed
	decision
	was
	January
	6, 	1999.
1
Two
	extensions 	of 	time 	were
	subsequently 	granted 	to
	Ramirez 	and
exceptions
	were 	due
	to
	be
	filed
	no
	later
	than
	March
	2, 	1999.
PERB
	Regulations 	are 	codified at 	California
	Code
	of
Regulations,
	title
	8,
	section
	31001
	et 	seq. 	Regulation
	32135
provides, 	in 	pertinent 	part, 	that
	documents
	are 	"considered
'filed'
	when
	actually 	received 	by 	the 	appropriate
	PERB
	officebefore 	the 	close 	of 	business 	on 	the 	last 	date 	set 	for 	filing."
1

On
	February
	26,
	1999·,
	Ramirez
	made 	a
	third
	request
	for
	an
extension.
	The
	PERB.
appeals
	assistant
	denied
	the 	request
	and
informed 	Ramirez's
	attorney
	by
	telephone
	that
	the
	final
	due
	date
remained
	at
	March
	2,
	1999.
	On
	March
	2, 	1999, 	Ramirez
	made 	a
fourth
	request
	for 	additional
	time
	to
	file
	the 	exceptions.	
On
March
	4,
	the 	appeals
	assistant
	denied
	this
	fourth 	request
	for
	an
extension.
2
Ramirez
	filed
	exceptions
	on March
	5,
	three
	days
	late.
	By
letter
	dated
	March
	10, 	1999,
	the 	appeals
	assistant
	informed
Ramirez
	that
	her
	exceptions
	were
	untimely
	filed.
RAMIREZ'S
	APPEAL
On
	March
	18, 	1999, 	Ramirez
	filed
	the
	instant
	appeal 	of
	the
appeals
	assistant's
	determination. 	In 	the 	appeal, 	Ramirez's
attorney 	asserts 	that
	good
	cause
	exists
	to
	excuse
	the
	late 	filing
because:
	(1)
	the 	attorney
	was
	ill
	and
	unable
	to
	come
	to 	the
office
	from
	February
	16
	through 	February
	22; 	and
	(2)
	the
The
	fourth 	request 	for
	an
	extension 	of 	time
	to
	file
exceptions
	was
	filed
	on March
	2, 	1999,
	3
	days
	late.
	PERB
Regulation
	section
	32132(a)
	states:
2
A
request 	for
	an
	extension 	of 	time
	within
which
	to
	file
	any 	document
	with 	the
	Board
itself
	shall
	be
	in 	writing
	and
	shall
	be
	filed
at
	the 	headquarters
	office 	at 	least 	three
days
	before 	the 	expiration 	of 	the 	time
required 	for 	filing.
	The
	request 	shallindicate 	the 	reason 	for 	the 	request
	and,
	if
known,
	the 	position 	of 	each
	other partyregarding 	the 	extension. 	Service
	and
	proof
of 	service 	pursuant 	to 	Section
	32140
	are
required. 	Extensions 	of 	time
	may 	be
	grantedby 	the
	Board
	itself
	or 	an 	agent 	designated 	by
the
	Board
	itself 	for
	good 	cause 	only.(Emphasis 	added.)
2

attorney's 	office
	had
	computer problems
	on March 	1
	and
	2
	and
	he
was
	unable
	to
	complete
	work 	on
	the 	exceptions.
DISCUSSION
PERB
	Regulation
	32136
	provides
	that:
A
late 	filing
	may
	be
	excused
	in
	the
discretion
	of 	the
	Board
	for
	good
	cause
	only.
A
late 	filing
	which
	has 	been 	excused
	becomes
a
	timely
	filing
	under
	these
	regulations.
The
	Board 	has
	found
	good
	cause
	to
	exist
	where
	a
	party
	made 	a
conscientious
	effort
	to
	complete
	its
	filing
	in
	a
	timely
	manner
but
	failed
	to
	do
	so 	because 	of
	a
	clerical
	or postal
	error,
provided 	the 	delay
	caused
	was
	brief
	and
	no
	prejudice
	resulted 	to
any
	party 	in
	the 	case.
	(See,
	e.g.,
	State
	of
	California
(Department
	of 	Forestry
	and
	Fire 	Protection)
	(1998)
	PERB
	Order
No.
	Ad-286-S
	[good
	cause
	found 	where
	party
	made 	a
	conscientious
effort
	to
	timely
	file
	but 	inadvertently
	utilized
	an
	overnight
mail
	delivery
	system
	not
	specified 	in
	PERB
	regulation]; 	Trustees
of
	the 	California 	State 	University
	(1989)
	PERB
	Order
No.
	Ad-192-H,
	at
	p.
	5 	[good
	cause
	found 	where 	employer
	plausibly
explained
	that
	postage 	meter
	was
	set
	to
	wrong
	date
	and
	union
claimed
	no
	prejudice];
	North
	Orange 	County
	Regional 	Occupational
Program
	(1990)
	PERB
	Decision
	No. 	807 	[good
	cause 	found 	where
exceptions
	were
	filed
	well 	before 	the 	deadline, 	but 	they
	were
inadvertently 	filed 	in 	the
	PERB
	Los
	Angeles 	Regional 	Office
rather 	than 	the
	Sacramento 	headquarters
	office].)
Here, 	the 	final
	due
	date 	for 	filing
	exceptions
	was 	March
	2.
Ramirez 	requested
	a
	third 	extension 	of 	time 	on 	February 	26. 	Her
attorney
	was 	informed by 	the 	appeals 	assistant 	that
	no
	further
3

extensions
	would
	be
	granted.
	The
	exceptions
	were
	not
	filed 	until
March
	5, 	seven
	days
.after
	the
	February
	26
	request
	for
	an
extension
	was
	denied.
Neither
	of 	the 	reasons
	offered 	to
	excuse
	the
	late 	filing
meets
	the
	good
	cause
	standard.
	In 	the 	appeal, 	the
	attorney
states
	he
	returned 	to
	work
	from
	an
	illness
	on
	February
	23.
	At
that 	point,
	he
	still
	had
	seven
	calendar
	days
	to
	complete
	the
exceptions
	(February
	23
	-
	March
	2).
	The
	attorney
	does
	not
explain
	how
	his
	being
	ill
	prior
	to
	February
	23
	rendered
	him
incapable
	of
	filing
	the 	exceptions
	by
	March
	2.
Ramirez's
	attorney also
	claims
	his 	office
	had
	unspecified
11
computer 	problems
11
	on March
	1
	and
	2.
	He
	fails
	to 	describe 	those
problems
	in
	detail
	or 	to 	explain
	how
	those
	problems
	prevented
	him
from 	making
	a
	timely
	filing.
	Additionally,
	we
	note
	that 	multiple
extensions
	were
	granted
	to
	Ramirez.
	Considering
	all
	these
factors,
	we
	find 	that
	good
	cause 	has
	not
	been
	shown
	to
	excuse
this
	late 	filing.
ORDER
Lydia 	Ramirez's 	request 	to
	accept 	her
	late-filed
	exceptions
in
	Case
	No.
	SA-CE-1022-S
	is
	hereby
	DENIED.
Chairman
	Caffrey
	and
	Member
	Dyer
	joined 	in 	this
	Decision.
4