The Board recently placed its docket online. (Click here) The docket is the list of cases that are fully briefed awaiting a decision from the Board. By placing its docket online, the Board will likely come under criticism for the length of time some cases have been pending a decision. Past Boards have avoided such criticism by simply not releasing the docket. So while some scrutiny of the Board may be appropriate, this Board should be applauded for its willingness to be transparent and to subject itself to such public scrutiny.
Here what is the Board’s docket revealed as of 11/19/13 [Note: Since I wrote this post an updated docket has been posted; so these numbers may be a little off]:
Pending Cases by Type
Representation: 1
Exceptions to Proposed ALJ Decision: 38
Appeal from Dismissal: 18
Motions: 4
Total Number of Pending Cases: 61
Average Age (in Days) of Pending Cases
Representation: 103 days
Exceptions to Proposed ALJ Decision: 265 days
Appeal from Dismissal: 133 days
Motions: 150 days
Average Age of all Cases Pending Decision: 214 days
Number of Cases Older Than 6 months
Representation: None
Exceptions to Proposed ALJ Decision: 23 out of 38 (60.5%)
Appeal from Dismissal: 5 out of 18 (27.8%)
Motions: 2 out of 4 (50%)
Total Number of Cases Older Than 6 Months: 30 out of 61 (49%)
Number of Cases Older Than 1 Year
Representation: None
Exceptions to Proposed ALJ Decision: 8 out of 38 (21%)
Appeal from Dismissal: 2 out of 18 (11%)
Motions: None
Total Number of Cases Older Than 1 Year: 10 out of 61 (16%)
Oldest Case on Docket: SEIU LOCAL 721 v. County of Riverside (PERB Case No. LA-CE-0577-M) – Pending since 12/02/2011
Comments:
- A docket of 62 cases isn’t too bad. In the past the number of cases on the Board’s docket was more than double this number. If you consider that historically PERB has issued about 50 decisions a year, having a docket of 62 is only a tad high.
- The Board has also done a decent job issuing decisions on motions and dismissals in six months or less. Ideally, the Board would get the vast majority of decisions on appeals and motions out in 90 days or less.
- The backlog, to the extent there is one, is clearly with the exceptions to proposed ALJ decisions. This makes sense as these cases involve an evidentiary record which must be reviewed. Recently the Board has issued several lengthy decisions involving exceptions to proposed ALJ decisions. Hopefully this trend will continue.
This entry was posted in News, PERB News.
Previous post: LERANC Holiday Party on December 11