San Jose Community College Faculty Association (Maestas-Flores) (PERB A284E)

STATE
	OF
	CALIFORNIA
DECISION
	OF
	THE
PUBLIC
	EMPLOYMENT
	RELATIONS
	BOARD
MARGARITA
MAESTAS-FLORES,
Charging
	Party,
v.
SAN
	JOSE
	COMMUNITY
	COLLEGE
FACULTY
	ASSOCIATION,
Respondent.
)
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Case
	No.
	SF-C0-513
Administrative
	Appeal
PERB
	Order
	No. 	Ad-284
May
	30, 	1997
___________________ )
Appearance:	
Law
	Offices 	of
	Robert
	J.
	Bezemek
	by
	Adam H.
	Birnhak,
Attorney, 	for
	San
	Jose
	Community
	College
	Faculty Association.
Before 	Caffrey,
	Chairman;
	Johnson and 	Dyer,
	Members.
DECISION
JOHNSON,
	Member:
	This 	case
	is
	before 	the 	Public
	Employment
Relations
	Board
	(PERB
	or
	Board) 	on 	a
	request
	by
	the
	San
	Jose
Community
	College 	Faculty Association
	(Association)
	that 	the
Board
	accept
	its
	late 	filed
	response
	to
	Margarita 	Maestas-Flores'
(Maestas-Flores) 	appeal 	of
	a
	Board
	agent's
	dismissal 	of 	an
	unfair
practice
	charge.
~ACKGROUND
Maestas-Flores's 	appeal
	was
	served
	on
	the 	Association
	by
mail
	on 	February 	14, 	1997. 	According
	to
	PERB
	Regulation
32635(c)
, 1	
the 	Association's 	response
	was 	due
	to
	be
	filed 	at
	the
1
PERB
	regulations 	are 	codified at 	California
	Code
	of
Regulations,
	title
	8,
	section
	31001
	et
	seq.
	PERB
	Regulation
32635
	states, 	in part, 	that:
(c)
	If 	the 	charging 	party 	files
	a
	timely
appeal 	of 	the 	refusal, 	any 	other party
I!E-Y
file 	with 	the 	Board
	itself
	an 	original 	and
five 	copies 	of 	a 	statement 	in 	opposition

Sacramento
	headquarters
	office
2
no
	later
	than
	March
	11, 	1997.
The
	Association's
	response
	was
	received
	by
	PERB's
	San
	Francisco
regional
	office
	on March
	10, 	1997.
	The
	San
	Francisco
	regional
office
	forwarded
	the
	Association's
	response
	to
	the
	Sacramento
headquarters
	office,
	which
	received
	it
	on
	March
	12,
	1997,
	one 	day
after
	the 	deadline.
	The
	PERE
	appeals
	assistant
	subsequently
informed
	the 	Association
	that
	she
	was
	rejecting
	the
	response
	as
untimely
	filed,
	and
	the 	Association
	now
	appeals
	that 	rejection.
within
	20
	days 	following 	the 	date 	of 	serviceof 	the 	appeal
..
DISCUSSION
The
	Association 	requests
	that
	the
	Board
	excuse
	its
	late
filing,
	explaining
	that
	it
	sent
	its
	response
	to 	the
	wrong
	office
by
	honest 	mistake, 	noting
	that
	it
	typically
	makes 	numerous
to 	the
	various
	PERB
	offices.
	the
Association
	asserts 	that
	an
	unforeseeable
	mail
	delay
	contributed
to 	the 	lateness.
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
	becomesa
	timely
	filing
	under
	these 	regulations.
2 PERB
	Regulation
	32142
	provides, 	in pertinent 	part:
Whenever 	a 	document
	is
	required 	to
	be
	"filed"
or 	"served" 	with 	any 	of 	the
	below
	listed
entities,
	the 	proper 	recipient 	shall
	be:
(b) 	The 	Board
	itself:
	only
	at 	the
headquarters 	office. 
2

The
	sole 	issue
	is
	whether
	the 	Association
	has
	shown
	good
cause
	for
	the
	Board
	to
	excuse
	its
	late 	filing.
	The
	Board
	has
found 	good
	cause
	in 	identical
	circumstancc3
	in
	North
	Orange
County
	Regional 	Occupational
	Program
	(1990)
	PERB
	Decision
No.
	807.) 	Since
	there
	was
	a
	conscientious
	effort
	to
	timely
	file,
we
	find 	that
	good
	cause
	exists
	and
	we
	excuse
	this 	late 	filing.
ORDER
The
	San
	Jose
	Community
	College
	Faculty
	Association's 	request
to 	accept
	its
	late 	filed
	response
	to
	the
	appeal
	of
	the 	dismissal
in
	Case
	No.
	SF-CO-513
	is
	hereby
	GRANTED.
Chairrnan
	Caffrey
	and
	Member
	Dyer
	joined 	in
	this
	Decision.
3