MSAD #45 v. MSAD Teachers Assoc., Superior Court No. CV-82-34, enforcing Board order of Jan. 12, 1982, No. 82-10 STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT KENNEBEC, SS CIVIL ACTION Docket Nos. CV82-34 CV82-71 MAINE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICT ) #45, ) ) Plaintiff ) ) v. ) ) MAINE SCiOOL ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICT ) #45 TEACHERS ASSOCIATION ) ) and ) ) MAINE LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, ) ) Defendants ) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *) ORDER MAINE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICT ) #45 TEACHERS ASSOCIATION, ) ) Plaintiff ) ) v. ) ) MAINE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICT ) #45, ) ) Defendant ) The Court ORDERS that these two actions be consolidated pursuant to the requirements of 26 M.R.S.A. Sec. 968(5)(D). After hearing and consideration of the arguments and memoranda of counsel, the Court finds no violation of the Freedom of Access Law, 1 M.R.S.A. 401, et seq., by the Maine Labor Relations Board in its decision to go into "an executive session for the purposes of deliberation" at the hearing on January 8, 1982. 26 M.R.S.A. Sec. 968(4) and (5)(B) clearly contemplate that the Maine Labor Relations Board will deliberate in private after a hearing, and that subsequent to the -1- deliberations, a written decision on a prohibited practices complaint will be issued: Within a reasonable time after the conclusion of any hearing the board shall make a written decision. . . . It would be an unreasonable construction of the Freedom of Access Law to hold that the legislature intended that the deliberations of a quasi-judicial body such as the Maine Labor Relations Board must occur in public. The deliberative process would be seriously hindered by requiring it to occur in a public proceeding. The public policy of the Freedom of Access Law is satisfied by requiring that the Maine Labor Relations Board hearing be public, and that the board decision itself be written. Accordingly, the Court concludes that the Maine Labor Relations Board order of January 12, 1982 is not an illegal order pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A. Sec. 409(2). The Court holds that the substantive objections of M.S.A.D. #45 to the Maine Labor Relations Board order of January 12, 1982 as being beyond the contemplation of the collective bargaining agreement and in interference with the district's contractual rights are without merit. Accordingly, the Court will deny any relief from that order. The entry shall be: 1. It is hereby ORDERED that civil actions 82-34 and 82-71 be consolidated. 2. It is hereby ORDERED and DECREED that the Maine Labor Relations Board order of January 12, 1982 be ENFORCED without any modification. The M.S.A.D. #45 is hereby ORDERED to comply with the Maine Labor Relations Board order of January 12, 1982. Dated: June 9, 1982 /s/______________________________ Morton A. Brody Justice, Superior Court -2-