Summary
In Incorporated Village of Lake Grove v. Civil Service Employees Association, Inc. (1986), 118 A.D.2d 781, 500 N.Y.S.2d 290, a New York court held that a stay of arbitration was properly denied.
Summary of this case from Board of Governors v. IelrbOpinion
March 24, 1986
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Underwood, J.).
Order affirmed, with costs.
Special Term correctly determined that the issue of the propriety of an employee's termination was arbitrable. The arbitration clause of the collective bargaining agreement between the parties is broad enough to encompass the subject matter of the instant dispute and evidences a clear and unequivocal agreement to submit the dispute to arbitration. Hence, a stay of arbitration was properly denied (see, Matter of Board of Educ. v. Deer Park Teachers Assn., 50 N.Y.2d 1011; Board of Educ. v. Barni, 49 N.Y.2d 311; Matter of Wyandanch Union Free School Dist. v. Wyandanch Teachers Assn., 48 N.Y.2d 669).
We further find no merit to the petitioner's contention that to allow arbitration of this matter would violate public policy. The respondents do not dispute that the employee whose dismissal is the subject of the proposed arbitration was in a noncompetitive class and was not entitled to the tenure protections afforded by Civil Service Law § 75 (see, e.g., Matter of Tyson v. Hess, 109 A.D.2d 1068, affd 66 N.Y.2d 943; Matter of Voorhis v. Warwick Val. Cent. School Dist., 92 A.D.2d 571; Matter of Carter v. Murphy, 80 A.D.2d 960). Nevertheless, collective bargaining agreements may modify or even supplant the statutory provisions of Civil Service Law § 75 (see, Matter of Sinicropi v. Bennett, 60 N.Y.2d 918; Matter of Apuzzo v. County of Ulster, 98 A.D.2d 869, affd 62 N.Y.2d 960; Carroll v. Gunn, 116 A.D.2d 686). Moreover, as the Court of Appeals has determined, "the policy of allowing parties to choose a nonjudicial forum, embedded in freedom to contract principles, must not be disturbed by courts, acting under the guise of public policy" (Matter of Sprinzen [Nomberg], 46 N.Y.2d 623, 630; see also, Matter of Board of Educ. [Connetquot Teachers Assn.], 60 N.Y.2d 840; Matter of Port Washington Union Free School Dist. v. Port Washington Teachers Assn., 45 N.Y.2d 411, 417-418). Accordingly, we affirm. Lazer, J.P., Thompson, Bracken and Rubin, JJ., concur.