California School Employees Association (Gilligan) (PERB A218E)

STATE
	OF
	CALIFORNIA
DECISION
	OF 	THE
PUBLIC
	EMPLOYMENT
	RELATIONS
	BOARD
JEANETTE 	G. 	GILLIGAN,
Charging
	Party,
v.
CALIFORNIA
	SCHOOL
	EMPLOYEES
ASSOCIATION,
Respondent.
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Case
	No.
	SF-C0-378
Administrative
	Appeal
PERB
	Order
	No.
	Ad-218
December 	7, 	1990
Appearances:	
Jeanette
	G.
	Gilligan,
	on
	her
	own
	behalf;
	Marci
Seville, 	Staff
	Attorney,
	for 	California
	School
	Employees
Association.
Before
	Hesse,
	Chairperson;
	Shank
	and
	Camilli,
	Members.
DECISION
SHANK,
	Member:
	This 	case
	is
	before 	the 	Public
	Employment
Relations
	Board
	(PERB
	or
	Board) 	on
	a
	request
	by
	Jeanette
	G.
Gilligan
	(Gilligan) 	to
	be
	excused
	from
	her
	failure 	to 	timely
	file
an
	appeal 	of
	a
	Board
	agent's
	partial
	dismissal 	of 	her
	unfair
practice
	charge.
	The
	appeal 	of 	the
	partial
	dismissal
	was
	mailed
to
	PERB
	by
	Gilligan 	via 	regular
	first-class
	mail
	on
	September 	24,
1990,
	the
	filing
	deadline, 	but
	was
	received
	by
	PERB
	on
September 	26,
	1990.
	On
	September 	27, 	1990,
	the 	appeals
	assistant
rejected 	the
	appeal 	as 	untimely
	filed. 	Gilligan 	filed 	this
request
	on 	October 	9, 	1990.

DISCUSSION
In 	rejecting
	the
	appeal
	as
	untimely
	filed,
	the 	appeals
assistant
	relied
	on
	PERB
	Regulation
	32135
1
which
	provides:
32135.
	Filing.
	All
	documents
	shall
	be
	considered
"filed"
	when
	actually
	received
	by
	the 	appropriate
PERB
	office
	before 	the 	close
	of
	business
	on
	the
last
	date
	set
	for
	filing
	or
	when
	sent
	by
	telegraph
or
	certified
	or
	Express 	United
	States
	mail
postmarked
	not
	later
	than 	the
	last
	day
	set
	for
filing
	and
	addressed
	to
	the 	proper
	PERB
	office.
(Emphasis
	added.)
appeal
	PERB
	Regulation
	section
	32635
	states:
	"The
	original
.
	shall
	be
	signed
	by
	the
	charging
	party
	or
	its
	agent."
Gilligan
1
	mail
	on
	s
	appeal
	was
	unsigned
	and
	was
	mailed
	by
	regular
the
	final
	day
	for
	filing.
of	In 	the
	Board
	agent's
	partial
	dismissal
	letter
	August 	20,
1990,
2	
pertaining	Gilligan
	was
	apprised 	of
	PERB
	regulations
	to
the
	filing
	of
	a
	timely 	appeal.
	The
	original
	due
	date 	for
	filing
the
	appeal 	the
	partial
	dismissal
	was
	September
	14, 	1990.
	of	
On3
1PERB
	Regulations 	are 	codified
	at
	California
	Code
	of
Regulations,
	title
	3,
	section
	17.
2
We
	note
	that 	the
	first
	page
	of 	the
	partial
	dismissal
	letter
is
	dated
	August 	17, 	1990.
	All 	subsequent 	pages 	are 	dated
August 	20, 	1990.
3
The 	due
	date 	is 	calculated
	by
	taking 	the
	August 	20, 	1990
date 	of 	the 	partial 	dismissal
	letter
	and 	adding 	the 	twenty 	day
appeal 	period
	(PERB
	Regulation 	32635)
	plus 	five 	days 	pursuant 	to
PERB
	Regulation 	32130(c). 
2

or
	about
	September 	13,
	1990,
4
Gilligan
	requested
	an
	extension
	of
time
	to
	file
	her
	appeal
	stating 	that:
My
	request 	for
	this
	extension
	is
	because
	of
the
	extreme
	stress
	I
	have 	been 	under
	to
process
	and
	attend
	my
	termination
	hearing
	on
Wednesday,
	Sept.
	12.
	Attorney
	Phyllis
	Turner
had
	my
	files
	for
	processing
	this
	hearing.
On
	September
	13, 	1990,
	the
	appeals
	assistant
	informed
Gilligan 	that
	her 	request 	for
	an
	extension 	of
	time
	to
	file
	her
appeal
	was
	granted,
	that
	the
	appeal
	would
	be 	due
	September	
24,
1990, 	and
	that
	no
	further
	extensions 	of
	time
	would 	be
	granted.
In 	her 	request 	to
	be
	excused
	from
	her
	failure
	to
	meet
	the
filing
	deadline, 	Gilligan 	sets 	forth 	the
	following 	reasons
	for
her 	untimeliness:
	(1) 	on
	September
	12,
	1990
	she
	experienced
	a
"horrendously 	biased 	hearing";
	(2) 	on
	September
	20
	she
	received
the 	decision
	that
	she
	was
	to
	be
	terminated 	as
	of
	September 	19,
1990; 	(3)
	she
	was
	having
	further 	deliberations
	with 	her
	attorney
over 	her 	request 	for 	return
	of 	her
	files;
	(4) 	she 	has 	been
suffering
	depression
	over
	the
	"harrasment
	[sic],
	prejudice
	and
constant 	insults"
	she 	has
	experienced
	on
	the
	job
	for
	over
	a
	year;
(5) 	she 	has 	been
	consoling 	her
	husband
	over
	the 	great 	loss 	of
4
Gilligan's
	request 	for 	extension 	of 	time
	did 	not
	comply
with
	PERB
	Regulation
	32132(a) 	which
	requires
	that
	a
	request 	forextension 	of 	time
	in
	which
	to
	file
	any 	document
	with 	the
	Board
"shall
	be
	filed
	...
	at 	least 	three
	days
	before 	the 	expirationof 	the
	time 	required 	for
	filing."
	The
	appeals
	assistant
	excused
Gilligan's 	untimeliness, 	for
	good
	cause 	pursuant 	to
	PERB
Regulation
	32136 	which
	provides:
A
	late 	filing
	may
	be 	excused 	in 	the
discretion 	of 	the
	Board
	for
	good
	cause 	only.
A
late 	filing
	which 	has 	been 	excused 	becomesa
	timely 	filing
	under 	these 	regulations.
3

income
	and
	benefits 	resulting
	from
	her
	termination;
	and 	(6)
	her
agoraphobia
	illness
	does
	not 	allow
	her 	the
	reaction
	time 	she
should
	have.
The
	excuses
	set
	forth
	by
	Gilligan
	do
	not
	constitute
	good
cause
	for
	an
	untimely
	filing.
	(PERB
	Regulation
	32136.)
	Gilligan
had
	previously
	relied
	on
	the
	September
	12,
	1990
	hearing
	and
	the
fact 	that
	her
	attorney
	had
	her
	files
	as
	the 	basis 	for 	her
September
	13,
	1990
	request 	for
	an
	extension 	of
	time
	for
	filing
the
	appeal.
	Gilligan
	fails
	to
	demonstrate
	how
	the 	other
	factors
she
	lists
	as
	reasons
	to
	excuse
	the
	late 	filing
	actually
	prevented
her
	from
	properly
	filing
	a
	timely 	appeal.
ORDER
Gilligan
1 s
	request 	to
	be
	excused
	from
	her
	failure
	to
	timely
file
	an
	appeal 	of
	partial
	dismissal
	is
	DENIED.
Chairperson
	Hesse 	and
	Member
	Camilli 	joined 	in
	this
	Decision.
4