Bakersfield Elementary Teachers Association (Guerra) (PERB A281E)

STATE
	OP
	CALIFORNIA
DECISION
	OF THE
PUBLIC
	EMPLOYMENT
	RELATIONS
	BOARD
DOMINGO
	GUERRA,
Charging
	Party,
V.
BAKERSFIELD
	ELEMENTARY
	TEACHERS
ASSOCIATION, 	CTA/NEA,
Respondent.
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Case
	No. 	LA-CO-707
Administrative
	Appeal
PERB
	Order
	No. 	Ad-281
April
	11, 	1997
___________________
)
Appearances:	
Domingo
	Guerra,
	on
	his
	own
	behalf;
	California
Teachers
	Association
	by
	Rosalind
	D. 	Wolf,
	Attorney,
	for
Bakersfield
	Elementary 	Teachers
	Association,
	CTA/NEA.
Before
	Caffrey,
	Chairman;
	Johnson and
	Dyer,
	Members.
DECISION
DYER,
	Member:
	This 	case
	comes
	before 	the 	Public
	Employment
Relations
	Board
	(PERB
	or
	Board) 	on
	Domingo
	Guerra's
	{Guerra)
request 	that 	the
	Board
	accept
	his 	late-filed
	appeal
	of
	a
	Board
agent's 	dismissal 	of 	Guerra's
	unfair practice
	charge.
BACKGROUND
The
	Board
	agent 	dismissed Guerra's 	unfair practice
	charge
against 	the 	Bakersfield
	Elementary Teachers
	Association,
	CTA/NEA
(Association) 	on
	November
	21, 	1996. 	Pursuant	
to	
PERB
	Regulation
32635(a),
1
an 	appeal 	of 	that 	dismissal
	was 	due
	to 	be
	filed
	on
	or
1
PERB
	regulations 	are 	codified 	at 	California
	Code
	of
Regulations,
	title
	8,
	section
	31001
	et
	seq.
	PERB
	Regulation32635(a) 	provides, 	in 	pertinent 	part:
(a) 	Within 	20 	days 	of 	the 	date 	of 	service 	ofa
	dismissal, 	the 	charging 	party
may appeal
the 	dismissal 	to 	the 	Board
	itself.
	The
original 	appeal 	and 	five 	copies 	shall 	be

before
	December
	16, 	1996.
	Guerra
	did
	not
	file
	his
	appeal
	until
January
	6, 	1997.
filed
	in
	writing 	with 	the
	Board
	itself
	in
	theheadquarters
	office,
	and
	shall
	be
	signed
	by
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
On
	January
	13, 	1997,
	the
	PERB
	appeals
	assistant
	sent
	Guerra
a
	letter
	denying
	his
	appeal
	as
	untimely.
	The
	appeals
	assistant
also
	notified
	Guerra
	of
	his
	right
	to
	appeal
	her 	administrative
determination.
	(PERB
	Regulation
	32360.)
3
On
	January
	23, 	1997,
Guerra
	requested
	that
	the
	Board 	excuse
	his
	late 	filing
	and
	set
aside 	the
	appeals
	assistant's
	administrative 	determination.
DISCUSSION
PERB
	Regulation
	32136
	provides
	that
	the
	Board
may
	excuse
	a
2
The
	Association
	filed
	its
	opposition
	to
	this
	appeal
	on
January
	21, 	1997.
3
PERB
	Regulation
	32360
	provides:
(a) 	An
	appeal
	may
	be
	filed
	with 	the
	Board
itself
	from
	any
	administrative 	decision,except 	as 	noted
	in
	Section
	32380.
(b} 	An
	original
	and
	five
	copies 	of 	theappeal
	shall
	be
	filed
	with 	the
	Board
	itself
in
	the 	headquarters
	office 	within
	10
	days
following 	the 	date 	of 	service 	of 	the 	decision
or
	letter
	of 	determination.
(c) 	The
	appeal 	must 	be
	in 	writing
	and must
state
	the 	specific 	issue(s) 	of 	procedure,
fact,
	law
	or 	rationale 	that 	is
	appealed 	and
state
	the 	grounds
	for 	the 	appeal.
(d)
	Service 	and 	proof 	of 	service 	of 	the
appeal 	pursuant 	to 	Section
	32140
	are
required. 
2

late 	filing
	only
	for
	good
	cause.
4
Guerra
	requests
	that
	the
	Board
excuse
	his
	late-filed
	exceptions
	because
	of
	his
	inexperience,
	the
time
	pressures
	of
	other
	litigation,
	the 	imposition 	of
	the
holidays,
	and
	the
	death 	of
	his
	great-grandmother.
	The
	Board has
denied
	late 	filings
	blamed
	on
	similar
	circumstances.
	(California
Union
	of
	Safety
	Employees
	(John)
	(1995)
	PERB
	Order
	No.
	Ad-264-S
at
	p.
	4
	(noting
	that
	mere
	workload
	and
	holiday 	schedules
	do
	not
constitute
	good
	cause
	to
	excuse
	a
	late 	filing);
	North
	Monterey
County
	Unified
	School
	District
	(1996)
	PERB
	Order
	No. 	Ad-274
	at
p.
	4
	(absent
	additional
	explanation,
	no 	good
	cause
	found 	where
appellant's
	mother
	suffered
	a
	heart 	attack
	prior 	to
	the
	filing
deadline)
. )
Here,
	despite
	the
	foreseeability
	of
	workload and
	holiday
schedules, 	Guerra
	did
	not
	request
	an
	extension 	of
	time
	to
	file
his
	appeal 	and
	provides
	no
	reason
	for.
	his 	failure 	to
	do
	so.
Further,
	Guerra
	makes
	but
	passing
mention
	of 	the 	death 	of
	his
great-grandmother.
	He
	does
	not 	indicate
	when
	that
	death
occurred, 	nor
	how
	her 	death
	interfered
with
	his
	ability
	to
	file
his 	appeal. 	In
	sum,
	Guerra
	provides
	no
	indication 	that
	he
	made a
conscientious
	effort 	to
	file 	in
	a
	timely
	manner.
	Accordingly,
Guerra 	has
	failed
	to 	demonstrate
	good
	cause
	to
	excuse 	the
lateness 	of
	his
	appeal.
4
PERB
	Regulation
	32136
	provides:
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.
3

ORDER
Domingo
	Guerra's 	request
	that
	the
	Board
	accept
	his
	late
filed
	appeal
	in
	Case
	No. 	LA-CO-707
	is
	hereby
	DENIED.
Chairman
	Caffrey
	and
	Member
	Johnson
	joined
	in 	tpis
	Decision.
4