02-2916 Beaudette et al. v. Eau Claire County Sheriff's Department

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“In his Sept. 30 letter, the personnel director told the employees’ union representative that, ‘The county maintains that since neither the union nor the former employees have standing under Article 5 to grieve this matter, the county will not answer the grievance and will not process any further.’ In the Oct. 7 letter, the director informed the union representative the matter would not be placed on the next personnel meeting agenda. The parties dispute the meaning of these letters. The department contends these statements were merely part of the ‘give and take of day to day labor relations’ and it should not be penalized for taking an extreme position early in the dispute. On the other hand, the employees claim that these letters amount to the department’s repudiation of the contractual remedies. We agree with the employees.”

Further, we conclude that the employees’ claim did not accrue until Sept. 30, 1998, the date the department notified the union representative that its position was that the employees lacked standing to grieve it and that it would not answer the grievance or process it any further. Accordingly, the employees had until Jan. 28, 2001 to file their claim and their claim, filed on Dec. 29, 2000, was timely.

Finally, where the employees worked for the department during the new contract’s effective dates, they were entitled to wages for that time. And this is so even though the contract did not specifically mention retroactive pay for employees, current or former.

Judgment affirmed.

Recommended for publication in the official reports.

Dist III, Eau Claire County, Wahl, J., Cane C.J.

Attorneys:

For Appellant: James R. Scott, Milwaukee

For Respondent: Carol S. Dittmar, Eau Claire; Teresa E. O’Halloran, Eau Claire