A former police department employee’s unfair labor practice charges against her union were dismissed as untimely after a New York PERB Director ruled that the statute of limitations began when the union first clearly refused to represent her, not when it ignored her later, repeated requests.
Sanja Drinks-Bruder, a former employee of the City of Niagara Falls, alleged that her union violated its duty of fair representation by refusing to assist her with a grievance over her 2022 termination and by ignoring her subsequent requests for help. She filed her first charge in May 2025. According to her own pleadings, the union president texted her on July 14, 2022, stating, “Sanja, you are no longer an employee of the City of Niagara Falls. You cannot file a grievance nor do I have any obligation to speak to you further,” and asked her to stop making requests. Drinks-Bruder continued to seek representation through April 2025 without response.
The New York PERB’s Director found the charge untimely under the strict four-month filing rule. “The Board has consistently and strictly enforced its rule,” the decision stated, noting the period begins when a charging party “had actual or constructive knowledge of the act or acts that form the basis for the charge.” The Director held the Union’s “clear and unequivocal” July 2022 refusal was the actionable conduct. “That denial was the conduct that forms the basis for the charge, notwithstanding her repeated, subsequent and unanswered requests for representation.”
Drinks-Bruder filed an amended charge in July 2025, arguing the Union’s failure to respond to a June 2025 request for help obtaining retirement paperwork was a new violation. The Director dismissed this charge as well, finding it both untimely and meritless. The decision explained that a renewed request “does not serve to make fresh what is patently a stale claim,” and Drinks-Bruder had failed to allege any facts showing the Union’s conduct was “arbitrary, discriminatory, or founded in bad faith” as required to prove a breach of the duty of fair representation.
Drinks-Bruder v. Niagara Falls Police Club, 58 PERB ¶ 454739908 (Dir. Dec. Sept. 15, 2025).