Petitioner alleged that the City violated its duty to bargain by directing Lifeguard School personnel to accept results of vision tests conducted by doctors as proof of a candidate’s vision qualifications and by instituting a new heatwave protocol, which required some beach Lifeguards to remain on duty after the beaches had closed. Petitioner also argued that the City interfered with employees’ protected rights when DPR distributed a memo that directed employees to immediately obey directives of all supervisors despite advice offered by labor representatives. The City argued that it had not made changes to any mandatory subjects of bargaining, that Petitioner had not shown any practical impact, and that the claim related to the memo was untimely and unproven. The Board found that the City violated its duty to negotiate in good faith with respect to vision testing but did not have a duty to bargain over the beach heatwave protocol. The Board also found that the memo, which reminded employees of their right to pursue a grievance after obeying an order, did not interfere with employees’ rights. Accordingly, the petition was granted in part and denied in part.

18-OCB2d-16-BCB-2025.pdf