A police officer serving as School Resource Officer sought paid leave to chaperone a 6th grade trip to Italy. When his request was denied, the Union took the grievance to arbitration. The Arbitrator denied the grievance for three reasons: (1) the “educational program” language of the contract referred to education of police officers, not 6th graders; (2) the past practice claim (one trip by one SRO 10 years earlier) was weak; and (3) the allegedly “retaliating” official was directed by his supervisor to deny the request. The arbitrator emphasized that the department’s right to decide that this SRO should perform other duties that week weighed against his claim that he could “bond” with the students.
One way to avoid having to litigate such cases is to add language to the Management Rights provision that the matter of whether and how a management right is exercised is not subject to the grievance arbitration provision.
