Matter of City of Middletown v City of Middletown Police Benevolent Association

Matter of City of Middletown v City of Middletown Police Benevolent Assn. 2006 NY Slip Op 05012 [30 AD3d 532] Decided on June 20, 2006 Appellate Division, Second Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports.

Decided on June 20, 2006
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORKAPPELLATE DIVISION : SECOND JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT
STEPHEN G. CRANE, J.P.
WILLIAM F. MASTRO
PETER B. SKELOS
MARK C. DILLON, JJ.
2005-02552 DECISION & ORDER

[*1]In the Matter of City of Middletown, respondent,

v

City of Middletown Police Benevolent Association, appellant. (Index No. 5342/04)




John K. Grant, P.C., Newburgh, N.Y., for appellant.
Alex Smith, Corporation Counsel, Middletown, N.Y., for
respondent.

In a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 75 to vacate an arbitration award dated May 7, 2004, the City of Middletown Police Benevolent Association appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Orange County (Horowitz, J.), dated January 10, 2005, which granted the petition and denied its cross application to confirm the award.

ORDERED that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, the petition is denied, and the cross application to confirm the award is granted.

An arbitrator determined, in construing Article IX, Sections 1, 2, and 3 of the parties' collective bargaining agreement, that police officers employed by the City of Middletown accrue their annual allotment of vacation days on January 1st of each year, and that the City violated the agreement when its mayor unilaterally changed the vacation accrual policy. The Supreme Court erred in granting the petition to vacate the arbitrator's award and in denying the cross application of the City of Middletown Police Benevolent Association to confirm the award. The arbitrator's award did not violate strong public policy, was not irrational, and did not clearly exceed a specifically enumerated limitation of the arbitrator's power (see Matter of Albany County Sheriff's Local 775 of Council 82, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, 63 NY2d 654, 656; Matter of Board of Educ. of City School Dist. of City of N.Y. v United Fedn. of Teachers, Local 2, 304 AD2d 826, 827; Matter of County of Nassau v Sheriffs' Officers Assn., 294 AD2d 31, 35; Matter of Elmira Hgts. Cent. School Dist., 250 AD2d [*2]983, 984; Matter of Correction Officers Benevolent Assn. v City of New York, 160 AD2d 548, 549). Moreover, the arbitrator's interpretation of the parties' vacation accrual policies set forth in the collective bargaining agreement did not violate New York Constitution article VIII § 1 (see Matter of Board of Educ. of Ramapo Cent. School Dist., 200 AD2d 62, 65).
CRANE, J.P., MASTRO, SKELOS and DILLON, JJ., concur.

ENTER:

James Edward Pelzer

Clerk of the Court