Professional Documents
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
LEGAL ARGUMENT
CONCLUSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NJSBAa1
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STATEMENT OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
LEGAL ARGUMENT
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Fuller,[the vocal music teacher] . . . but also by
ignoring the students' complaints that they were
partially undressed. [The custodian] corroborated
Fuller's testimony that upon being told to leave, he
first hesitated and then said, "what's the big deal?"
He further disregarded the pleas of several female
students that he leave [the changing room] as they
were in the process of changing clothes[,] but rather
continued cleaning the door panes oblivious to their
concerns. The written statements of several students
-- albeit hearsay -- convinced the [a]rbitrator that
[the custodian] had no intention of leaving Room 209
until Ms. Fuller demanded his departure and even then
left in a reluctant, "lackadaisical" manner.’
Linden Bd. of Educ. v. Linden Educ. Ass'n, No. A-1236-
07T3 (App. Div. Apr. 17, 2009)(slip op. at 4, NJSBAa4.)
this dispute. The arbitrator found that the Board had just
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incongruous with the custodian’s work history in the
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"strong preference for judicial confirmation of
arbitration awards," Weiss v. Carpenter, Bennett &
Morrissey, 143 N.J. 420, 442, 672 A.2d 1132 (1996).
Indeed, "the role of the courts in reviewing
arbitration awards is extremely limited and an
arbitrator's award is not to be set aside lightly."
State v. Int'l Fed'n of Prof'l & Technical Eng'rs,
Local 195, 169 N.J. 505, 513, 780 A.2d 525 (2001)
(citation omitted). [**93] Thus, in public sector
arbitration, courts will accept an arbitrator's award
so long as the award is "reasonably debatable." See,
e.g., Bd. of Educ. of Alpha v. Alpha Educ. Ass'n, 188
N.J. 595, 603, 911 A.2d 903 (2006) (quotation
omitted). In brief, statutory and decisional law make
clear that policy considerations favor finality and
circumscribed judicial involvement in respect of
arbitration proceedings. New Jersey Turnpike Authority
v. Local 196, I.F.P.T.E., 190 N.J. 283, 291-292 (N.J.
2007)
states:
following cases:
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Second, “an arbitrator's power to decide what is fair and
of Morris, at 397.
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reading into the contract a requirement for progressive
term that the parties had not contractually agreed to, the
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local board of education terminated the custodian for his
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the safety of students at the school where he worked. The
custodian not only entered the room where the students were
Linden at NJSBAa13.
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The relationship between students and school staff is
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as changing rooms, students can have reasonable assurance
CONCLUSION
Respectfully submitted,
By:______________________________________
John J. Burns, Esq.
Counsel, On the Brief
New Jersey School Boards Association
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