STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10370
IN ASSEMBLY
April 18, 2018
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the civil service law, in relation to the negotiability
of disciplinary procedures affecting employees in the competitive
class of civil service of the state of New York or any civil division
thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative findings and declarations. The Taylor Law
2 requires collective bargaining over all "terms and conditions of employ-
3 ment." Our courts have often stressed the importance of this policy and
4 have made clear that "the presumption...that all terms and conditions of
5 employment are subject to mandatory bargaining" cannot easily be over-
6 come. In the Matter of Patrolmen's Benevolent Association of the City of
7 New York, Inc. v. New York State Public Employment Relations Board, 6
8 N.Y. 3d 563 at 572 (2006) (Hereinafter NYC PBA case). However, while
9 paying homage to our state's strong and sweeping policy to support
10 collective bargaining of all terms and conditions of employment under
11 the Taylor Law, the Court of Appeals in the case cited above held that
12 that policy must yield to any other legislation which specifically
13 commits police discipline to the discretion of local officials, includ-
14 ing the New York City charter, the Rockland County Police Act, section
15 155 of the town law and section 8-804 of the village law, provided only
16 that those laws were passed prior to 1958 when Sections 75 and 76 of the
17 civil service law providing minimum or back-stop provisions for due
18 process disciplinary procedures for public employees were enacted. In
19 doing so, the court cited specifically to the first sentence of subdivi-
20 sion 4 of section 76 of the civil service law which says that sections
21 75 and 76 of the civil service law shall not be construed to repeal or
22 modify pre-existing laws relating to the removal or suspension of offi-
23 cers or employees in the competitive class of the civil service of the
24 state or any civil division.
25 Since the Taylor Law was enacted in 1967 making all terms and condi-
26 tions of employment subject to collective bargaining, matters pertaining
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15342-01-8
A. 10370 2
1 to employee discipline, including disciplinary procedures, have been
2 negotiated into many collective bargaining agreements in municipalities
3 across the state covering all types of public employees, including
4 police officers. Those agreements were honored until 2006 when the NYC
5 PBA case was decided. The impact of the NYC PBA case has been to deprive
6 many, but not all, police officers of the right to enforce their negoti-
7 ated disciplinary procedures and of the right to collectively bargain
8 with regard to matters pertaining to discipline in the future that all
9 other public employees enjoy. The purpose of this act is to expressly
10 overrule this decision and those that have followed it and to replace
11 them with a legislative declaration that police officers and all other
12 competitive class public employees in the state of New York are entitled
13 to collectively bargain with respect to all matters pertaining to disci-
14 pline and, in the absence of a negotiated procedure, to at least the
15 minimum due process protections provided by sections 75 and 76 of the
16 civil service law.
17 § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 76 of the civil service law, as amended
18 by chapter 283 of the laws of 1972, is amended and a new subdivision 5
19 is added to read as follows:
20 4. [Nothing contained in section seventy-five or seventy-six of this
21 chapter shall be construed to repeal or modify any general, special or
22 local law or charter provision relating to the removal or suspension of
23 officers or employees in the competitive class of the civil service of
24 the state or any civil division. Such sections may be supplemented,
25 modified or replaced by agreements negotiated between the state and an
26 employee organization pursuant to article fourteen of this chapter.
27 Where such sections are so supplemented, modified or replaced, any
28 employee against whom charges have been preferred prior to the effective
29 date of such supplementation, modification or replacement shall continue
30 to be subject to the provisions of such sections as in effect on the
31 date such charges were preferred.] This section or section seventy-five
32 of this title shall be construed to repeal or modify any general,
33 special or local law or charter provision relating to the removal or
34 suspension of officers or employees in the competitive class of the
35 civil service of the state or any civil division. This section and
36 section seventy-five of this title may be supplemented, modified or
37 replaced by agreements negotiated between the state or any political
38 subdivision thereof and an employee organization pursuant to article
39 fourteen of this chapter. Where such sections are so supplemented, modi-
40 fied or replaced, any employee against whom charges have been preferred
41 prior to the effective date of such supplementation, modification or
42 replacement shall continue to be subject to the provisions of such
43 sections as in effect on the date such charges were preferred.
44 5. The terms of any current or expired collective bargaining agreement
45 or interest arbitration award between any public employer and any public
46 employee organization relating to any aspect of police officer disci-
47 pline which were invalidated or rendered unenforceable by any decision,
48 order or judgement of any court, administrative agency or other adjudi-
49 catory tribunal on grounds of public policy shall be deemed valid from
50 the date any such agreements or awards were first reached or issued, and
51 those agreements or awards shall be applied and enforced as to any
52 disciplinary charges pending on the effective date of this subdivision
53 and to any disciplinary charges filed thereafter.
54 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
