Miami, Fla. – March 11, 2021 – GrayRobinson white collar criminal defense attorney, Brian Bieber, who is a shareholder in the Miami office, shares his perspective on a recent appellate ruling in Daily Business Review’s "Florida Appellate Ruling Creates Precedent to Contest Arbitration Provisions." The article discusses Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal’s (DCA) recent reversal and remand of a Miami-Dade Circuit Court ruling in favor of two former police officers. The lower court previously ruled the City of Miami had to pursue the officers’ grievances over their resignations from the police force in an arbitration proceeding. Additionally, based on the Third DCA ruling, the trial court will have to determine whether the resignations were voluntary or involuntary.
Bieber offered that the appellate decision was stated so that it cleared up what appeared to be a complicated issue. "Regardless of whether these officers were committing an underhanded towing scheme, the first question to be decided is whether they voluntarily resigned or with the advice of their admitted counsel, willingly executed resignation letters," Bieber said. "Then, and only then, would an arbitration proceeding kick in. Essentially, the appellate court said, ‘You can’t automatically run to arbitration just because that possibility exists in a contract.’"
The article continues, noting that if the officers’ resignations were voluntary, they can’t force their grievances to be heard by an arbitrator under the collective bargaining agreement between the city and the police department.