Judith Evans, Superintendent 40 Samoset Road Winchester, MA 01890 RE: Open Meeting Law Complaints Dear Dr. Evans: This office received three complaints from Claire Barden on May 16, alleging that the Winchester School Committee (the "Committee") violated the Open Meeting Law, G.L. c. 3OA, 18-25.'
Groton-Dunstable Regional School Committee, 15 MLC 1551, 1556 (1989) (emphasis added); Town ofWinchester, 1591, 1596 (1992). 19 MLC The legal test is an objective one, and the subjective impact of the employers conduct on one or more employees is not therefore determinative. Town ofWinchester, 19 MLC at 1596 (1992). The DLR, in footnote four of its dismissal decision, acknowledges that it should apply an objective test..
Town of Athol, 25 MLC 209, 212, MUP-1448 (June 11, 1999); Town ofWinchester, 19 MLC 1591, 1595, MUP-7514 (December 22, 1992); GrotonDunstable Regional School Committee, 15 MLC 1551, 1555, MUP-6748 (1989). The test 2 Further, I decline to find broadly that all reasonable accommodations must be bargained with the Union, as the Charge suggests.
Town ofWinchester, 19 MLC 1591, 1596, MUP-7514 (December 22, 1992). The Commonwealth Employment Relations Board (CERB) does not analyze the motivation behind the conduct, Town of Chelmsford, 8 MLC 1913, 1916, MUP-4620 (March 12, 1982), affd sub nom. Town of Chelmsford v. Labor Relations Commission, 15 Mass. App. Ct. 1107 (1983), or whether the coercion succeeded or failed.
Town ofWinchester, 19 MLC 1591, 1596, MUP-7514 (December 22, 1992). The Commonwealth Employment Relations Board (CERB) does not analyze the motivation behind the conduct, Town of Chelmsford, 8 MLC 1913, 1916, MUP-4620 (March 12, 1982), affd sub nom. Town of Chelmsford v. Labor Relations Commission, 15 Mass. App. Ct. 1107 (1983), or whether the coercion succeeded or failed.
Town ofWinchester, 19 MLC 1591, 1596, MUP-7514 (December 22, 1992). The Commonwealth Employment Relations Board (CERB) does not analyze the motivation behind the conduct, Town of Chelmsford, 8 MLC 1913, 1916, MUP-4620 (March 12, 1982), affd sub nom. Town of Chelmsford v. Labor Relations Commission, 15 Mass. App. Ct. 1107 (1983), or whether the coercion succeeded or failed.
See Town ofWinchester, 19 MLC 1591, 1596 (1992). Importantly, when analyzing the impact of the employers conduct on reasonable employees, the Commission considers the impact on a reasonable employee under the circumstances. However, this limitation does not impose a broad gag rule that prohibits employers from openly expressing their opinions about matters of public concern.
See Town ofWinchester, 19 MLC at 4 1597. I reach the opposite conclusion here, finding that Mayor Herouxs comments conveyed 5 his anger and were demeaning to Jacques and his protected activity. 6 The City further defends Mayor Herouxs statement by noting that he was unaware that 7 Spouse was related to a member of the Fire Department bargaining unit.
City of Lowell, 29 MLC 30, 33 (2002); Town ofWinchester, 19 MLC 1591, 1597 (1992). Nevertheless, the Supreme Judicial Court has held that public servants must suffer, from time to time, limits on constitutional rights like speech as are appropriate to the exercise in given situations of their official duties or functions. In the Matter of Bonin, 375 Mass. 680, 709 (1978), (citing Broderick v.
See also, Town ofWinchester, 19 MLC 1957, n.9, MUP-7514 (December 22, 1992). The evidence presented indicates that the RAR as a whole was written as an overview of DCF's investigation into Vasquezs allegations. The tone of the RAR as a whole was not critical of Mannas protected, concerted activities. Consequently, | find no probable cause to believe that the Commonwealth violated the Law in the manner alleged and | dismiss the Union's charge.