Vermont Supreme Court Affirms Bargaining Rights for Staff of State's Attorneys Offices

In a strong and stunning victory on behalf of the Vermont State Employees' Association, Pyle Rome attorneys, working together with VSEA counsel, convinced the Vermont Supreme Court to overturn a 2014 decision by the Vermont Labor Relations Board that denied collective bargaining rights to prosecutors, victim advocates and support staff in the State's Attorneys Offices. Pyle Rome partner Al Gordon O'Connell was the lead attorney on the case and argued the matter before the Court.

The case arose in 2014 when the VSEA filed election petitions with the Vermont Labor Relations Board seeking to represent employees in eight of the fourteen State's Attorneys Offices. In an overly narrow decision without any basis in legal precedent, the Labor Board held that the State's Attorneys Offices were not "employers" under the relevant labor relations statute because they could not engage in collective bargaining over the entire range of benefits and conditions of employment, some of which are set on a state-wide basis. The VSEA appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the employees should have the right to bargain with the State's Attorneys to the extent of their authority.

In a clear and concise decision, the Court overruled the Board, reasoning that the mere fact that an employer "may be unable to bargain over the full scope of employment issues with respect to the petitioned-for employees in their offices does not mean that they are not . . . [employers] within the meaning of the [collective bargaining law]." The court held that where an employer "has control over only some of the potential bargaining subjects, it nevertheless can and must negotiate, at minimum, with respect to those limited subjects." The case has now been remanded to the Labor Board to process the election petitions in any of the State's Attorneys Offices that have the statutory minimum of five employees.