Convention Center dispute becomes further tangled

Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board hearing examiner Jack E. Marino, who is presiding over the unfair labor practice charges that the Carpenters union filed against the Convention Center, has set May 28 for a hearing.

The main topic?

Whether Marino should kick himself off the case.

"This is certainly awkward," said John McNichol, the center's chief executive. "It's a head-scratcher."

It's particularly difficult for McNichol and the center's lawyers, since on May 2, they filed a request with the board to get Marino off the case.

They said his most recent ruling, on April 16, backing the Carpenters' cause, "raises the specter of serious impropriety, including allegations of public corruption and improper political influences."

Since last May, the Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters and Teamsters Local 107 have complained that they were unfairly shut out of work at the center.

The unions filed charges with the board on the ground that the Convention Center, as a public entity, comes under its purview.

On Feb. 2, Marino wrote a letter dismissing the unions' charges on jurisdictional grounds.

But on April 16, he reversed course, saying that there were enough questions on the jurisdiction issue to warrant a hearing on whether the PLRB can hear the case.

On May 2, the Convention Center sent off its blistering motion, seeking a hearing before the full board. It wants the board to order Marino off the case, start over with another outside examiner, or vacate Marino's April 16 decision.

But instead of the full board, it will present its case to Marino.

The board's secretary wrote in a May 8 letter that regulations say the hearing examiner makes the first ruling on motions and objections.

Marino followed up in a May 11 letter, saying the hearing was necessary to present facts showing prejudice or bias.

"Generally recusal is warranted where the appearance of impropriety arises because of a ... pecuniary interest in a controversy or consanguineal [blood] relationship with one of the litigants," Marino wrote.

"Marino would arguably be the best witness" about what prompted him to change his mind, McNichol said. "There's only one person who can answer that question and that's him."

The Carpenters union declined to comment.

Source: Philly.com