DOUGLAS DEJAEGHERE V CITY OF BIRMINGHAM
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
DOUGLAS DEJAEGHERE,
UNPUBLISHED
December 30, 2003
Plaintiff-Appellant,
No. 242411
Oakland Circuit Court
LC No. 2000-026701-CL
v
CITY OF BIRMINGHAM and POLICE
OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF MICHIGAN,
Defendants-Appellees.
Before: Wilder, P.J., and Griffin and Cooper, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Plaintiff Douglas Dejaeghere appeals as right from the trial court’s order granting
summary disposition in favor of defendant Police Officers Association of Michigan (POAM),
pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(10), with regard to plaintiff’s claim for breach of POAM’s duty of
fair representation, and dismissing plaintiff’s claim for breach of a collective bargaining
agreement (CBA) against defendant City of Birmingham (hereafter the “City”) as moot. We
affirm.
Plaintiff, a former Birmingham police officer, brought this action after POAM failed to
request arbitration of a thirty-day suspension without pay and plaintiff’s subsequent termination
of employment on January 18, 2000 for violating various policies, procedures, rules and
regulations of the City’s police department. At the time of his discharge, plaintiff had a lengthy
history of disciplinary actions. These disciplinary actions included a prior termination of his
employment in 1996, which an arbitrator modified in 1998 to a suspension without pay.
Plaintiff’s most recent disciplinary actions stemmed from two separate incidents, one involving
plaintiff’s improper use of emergency equipment on his patrol vehicle and the other involving
plaintiff’s unauthorized possession and use of a police department video camera. POAM
pursued plaintiff’s grievances concerning these matters to the fifth step of the grievance
procedure set forth in a collective bargaining agreement with the City, but declined to pursue the
sixth step. The sixth step of the grievance procedure provided:
[s]hould the City Commission elect to waive Step 5 or in the event the City
Commission renders a decision which does not satisfactorily settle the grievance,
the Union may submit the matter to final and binding arbitration by notifying the
other party and the Federal Mediation an [sic] Conciliation Service within fifteen
(15) days . . . of receipt of the Commission’s decision or its decision to waive.”
-1-
We review de novo plaintiff’s challenge to the trial court’s determination that POAM was
entitled to summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(10) with regard to whether POAM
breached its duty of fair representation.1 The central issue we must decide is whether POAM’s
conduct toward plaintiff was arbitrary, discriminatory, or in bad faith.2 “An individual employee
does not have the absolute right to have a grievance taken to arbitration, even where, in some
instances, the employee’s grievance against the employer may have merit under the terms of the
applicable collective bargaining agreement.”3 The union’s considerable discretion in deciding
which grievances should proceed to arbitration includes latitude in investigating the claimed
grievances and the power to abandon frivolous claims.4
The evidence in this case demonstrates that POAM, through its agents, processed
plaintiff’s grievances concerning his suspension and later termination to the fifth step of the
grievance procedure established under the CBA before declining to pursue arbitration. The
evidence regarding the investigation conducted by POAM’s assistant general counsel, Peter
Cravens, included, among other things, conversations with plaintiff about the incidents
underlying the disciplinary actions and inquiries to determine whether plaintiff’s claim of
disparate treatment could be substantiated. The record also demonstrates that Mr. Cravens was
familiar with plaintiff’s disciplinary history, having been involved in a prior grievance against
plaintiff that was arbitrated.
We note that when considering a claim that a disciplinary action was taken without just
cause, arbitrators, in the absence of contrary language in the CBA, are generally permitted to
determine that a disciplinary action was too severe, despite some infraction on the part of the
employee.5 But viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to plaintiff in this case, there is
no genuine issue of material fact that Mr. Cravens could reasonably question POAM’s ability to
prevail at arbitration with regard to having the thirty-day suspension or plaintiff’s later discharge
modified or set aside. This is especially true in light of plaintiff’s substantial disciplinary record.
On this record, we conclude that a reasonable trier of fact could not determine that POAM,
through its agents, acted in an impulsive, irrational, or unreasonable manner, or with little care or
indifference to plaintiff’s interests.6
Absent a genuine issue of material fact for trial with regard to whether POAM breached
its duty of fair representation, the trial court properly granted POAM’s motion for summary
disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(10).7 Further, because plaintiff has failed to show any basis for
1
Taylor v Modern Engineering, Inc, 252 Mich App 655, 658; 653 NW2d 625 (2002).
2
Silbert v Lakeview Ed Ass’n, Inc, 187 Mich App 21, 25; 466 NW2d 333 (1991).
3
Id. at 25-26; see also Goolsby v Detroit, 419 Mich 651, 663; 358 NW2d 856 (1984).
4
Goolsby, supra at 663; see also Vaca v Sipes, 386 US 171; 87 S Ct 903; 17 L Ed 2d 842 (1967).
5
See Police Officers Ass’n of Michigan v Manistee Co, 250 Mich App 339, 344-346; 645 NW2d
713 (2002).
6
See Goolsby, supra at 679.
7
Taylor, supra at 658.
-2-
disturbing the trial court’s determination that this ruling rendered plaintiff’s claim against the
City moot, we also affirm the trial court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s breach of contract action
against the City.
Affirmed.
/s/ Kurtis T. Wilder
/s/ Richard Allen Griffin
/s/ Jessica R. Cooper
-3-
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.