Prohibited Practice Complaint

Listen to this article

WI Court of Appeals – District III

Case Name: Carmen J. Bertelsen v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission et al.

Case No.: 2015AP1691

Officials: Kloppenburg, P.J., Higginbotham and Sherman, JJ.

Focus: Prohibited Practice Complaint

Carmen Bertelsen appeals from an order affirming the decision by the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (WERC) that dismissed her prohibited practice complaint alleging that Pierce County terminated her without just cause. The Commission did not exercise jurisdiction over the complaint on the ground that the contractual grievance arbitration procedure was the exclusive means to enforce the just cause provision in the collective bargaining agreement between the County and Bertelsen’s union, the Labor Association of Wisconsin, Inc., and its affiliate, Pierce County Nurses Association Local 901.1 Bertelsen had argued that her complaint should be permitted to go forward because the union failed in its duty of fair representation, but the Commission found that she had failed to establish that. We affirm the Commission’s decision.

Full Text

Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.