Antonio Major v. Sheriff of Monroe County

Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed December 31, 2025.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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No. 3D25-494
Lower Tribunal No. CA-2024-041
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Antonio Major,
Appellant,
vs.
Sheriff of Monroe County,
Appellee.
An Appeal from the State of Florida, Public Employees Relations
Commission.
Antonio Michael Major, in proper person.
Allen, Norton & Blue, P.A., and Liana De La Noval and Susan Potter
Norton, for appellee.
Before EMAS, LOGUE and GORDO, JJ.
PER CURIAM.

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Antonio Major appeals a Final Order from the Public Employees
Relations Commission (PERC) summarily dismissing an unfair labor practice
charge initiated by Major pursuant to section 447.503, Florida Statutes
(2024).1 Upon our review of the record, we affirm the Commission’s dismissal
and its determination that the charge filed by Major was legally insufficient.
See Gibbons v. State Pub. Emps. Rels. Comm'n, 702 So. 2d 536, 536 (Fla.
2d DCA 1997) (“The charge, which was sworn to by Gibbons, stated that
during the summer of 1995 Gibbons criticized the management staff in his
office on several occasions and that he counseled colleagues regarding their
union rights.”) (emphasis added) (citing § 447.503(1), Fla. Stat. (1995),
requiring the charge be accompanied by “sworn statements and
documentary evidence sufficient to establish a prima facie violation” of the
pertinent unfair labor practice provision); Fla. Admin. Code Ann. R. 60CC-
5.001 (mirroring the statute and providing that a charge “must be
accompanied by sworn statement(s) setting forth facts of which the affiant
1 Section 447.503, Florida Statutes (2024) governs the process for initiating
and settling disputes regarding alleged unfair labor practices, and authorizes
“the filing of a charge with the commission by an employer, employee, or
employee organization, or any combination thereof.” Subsection (1) details
the requirements of a charge, including that the charge contain a “clear and
concise statement of facts constituting the alleged unfair labor practice,” and
be “accompanied by sworn statements and documentary evidence sufficient
to establish a prima facie violation of the applicable unfair labor practice
provision.”

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has personal knowledge, and where applicable, documentary evidence
sufficient to support a prima facie violation of the applicable unfair labor
practice provision(s).”); Bertrand Simmons, Charging Party, v. Tampa Bay
Area Transit Workers Union, Inc., Respondent, 42 FPER ¶ 96 (2015) (“Here,
Simmons merely signed the amended unfair labor practice charge. The
amended charge was neither sworn to and signed before a notary public nor
accompanied by sworn statements. Thus, the amended charge must be
dismissed.”); see also Sch. Dist. of Indian River Cnty. v. Fla. Pub. Emps.
Rels. Comm'n, 64 So. 3d 723, 727 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011) (“In order to establish
a prima facie violation, the charge must include the names of the individuals
involved in the alleged unfair labor practice, and the time and place of
occurrence of the particular acts giving rise to the dispute. It also must
identify specific impacts on wages, hours, or terms and conditions of
employment resulting from the change at issue. A factually deficient charge
cannot be cured by resorting to the supporting documents. If the charge is
sufficient, a hearing will be held, but if it is insufficient, the commission may
issue a summary dismissal of the charge.”) (internal quotations omitted).
Affirmed.