The Los Angeles County Police Officers Association Is An "Agency Shop" Association Pursuant To The Meyers-Milias-Brown Act. Accordingly, The County Of Los Angeles Has A Statutory Obligation To Withhold Either Union Dues Or A "Fair Share Fee," As A Condition Of Employment For Employees Represented By Lacpoa. An Arbitrator Has Found That The County Violated Its Obligations And Thus Owes The Association Over $100,000.00 In Back Dues It Failed To Withhold From Current And Former Employees During A Seventeen Month Period.

An Association May Be Become "Agency Shop" By Either An Election Of Its Members Or Negotiating It Into The Applicable Memorandum Of Understanding. In This Case, Lacpoa Did Both. Agency Shop Was Implemented By Election In 1999 And Then Negotiated Into The Mou Effective February 2001. Initially, The County Complied With The Agency Shop Provisions And Began Withholding Union Dues Or A Fair Share Fee. The Problem Arose Where, Subsequent To The Initial Withholdings In Early 2001, The County Failed To Implement Such Withholdings For New Hires. By December Of 2002, The County Had Failed To Obtain Withholdings From Approximately 117 Officers. Compounding The County's Negligence, Was The County's Failure To Provide Monthly Employee Rosters To The Association As Required By The Mou. Had It Done So, Lacpoa Would Have Realized The Short Fall Much Sooner Than It Had. Upon Realizing The Large Discrepancy, Lacpoa Filed A Grievance In November Of 2002.

The Grievance Was Ultimately Sent To Binding Arbitration. Lacpoa, Represented By Dieter Dammeier Of Lackie & Dammeir APC Argued The Clear Requirements Of Both The Government Code And The Applicable Memorandum Of Understanding And The County's Complete Failure To Abide By Either. The County, In An Effort To Shift Blame, Threw Up A Number Of Excuses, First Claiming That Lacpoa Failed To Provide Required Notice To Employees For The Deductions. The Evidence Established The Contrary And Only Made The County's Argument More Ridiculas Since It Had In Fact Withheld Dues And Fair Share Fees From Some Employees, Just Not All Of Them.

Next, The County Argued That The Association Was Required To Provide Annual Financial Statements To The County Before Deductions Can Be Made. Again, The County's Assertion Was Correctly Overcome. California Law Only Requires That Financial Statements Be Made "Available" The Employer And Employees Upon Request.

Finally, The County Argued That Lacpoa Did Not Timely Grieve The Matter Since It Waited Until November 2002 To File A Grievance. Fortunately, The Evidence Showed The County's Culpability In That It Failed To Provide Monthly Notices To Lacpoa Of Employee Rosters, Which Was More Than Adequate Justification For Lacpoa's Delay In Filing The Grievance Since It Was Unaware Of The Discrepancy Until November 2002.

The Arbitrator Has Ordered The County To Reimburse Lacpoa The Amount Of Dues Or Fair Share Fee It Failed To Withhold From Employees Between November 2001 And April 2003, Which Lacpoa Estimates At Well Over $100,000.00.

About The Author: Dieter C. Dammeier Is A Ldf Panel Attorney And Partner At The Law Firm Of Lackie & Dammeir APC Representing Police Associations And Its Members Throughout Southern California.