Prince George's County Police Civilian Employees Ass'n v. Prince George's County Ex Rel. Prince George's County Police Department

WATTS, J. This case raises an important issue of first impression in Maryland — namely, whether a county has the authority under the county’s code to enter into a collective bargaining agreement requiring that, before a criminal investigative interview of one of the county’s police civilian employees, the employee be advised of the right to have a union representative present at the interview — ie., that the employee be advised of a Weingarten right in the collective bargaining agreement. An employee’s Weingarten right arises out of an employer-employee relationship where the employer subjects the employee to an investigatory interview. Generally, an employee’s Weingarten right is the employee’s right under the National Labor Relations Act “to refuse to submit without union representation to an interview [that the employee] reasonably ¹⁸³ fears may result in [the employee’s] discipline[.]” Nat’l Labor Relations Bd. v. J. Weingarten, Inc., 420 U.S. 251, 256, 260 , 95 S.Ct. 959 , 43 L.Ed.2d 171 (1975). Weingarten does not grant the members of the union in this case the Weingarten right, because the National Labor Relations Act does not apply to an employee of a State or local government.

Here, we use the phrase “Weingarten right” to refer to the right to a union representative that is embodied in Article 8.C. of the instant collective bargaining agreement. This case emanates from the circumstance that Prince George’s County (“the County”), Respondent/Cross-Petitioner, terminated the employment of Marlon Ford (“Ford”), a member of the Prince George’s County Police Civilian Employees Association (“the Association”), Petitioner/Cross-Respondent, after a criminal investigation during which Ford was questioned regarding alleged crimes and an internal affairs investigation during which Ford was questioned regarding alleged misconduct as an employee. Following Ford’s termination, the Association filed a grievance on Ford’s behalf, and the parties participated in arbitration. The arbitrator vacated the County’s termination of employment, imposed a thirty-day suspension instead, and granted Ford back pay.

The arbitrator based the arbitration award, in part, on the determination that the County had violated a collective bargaining agreement between the County and the Association because officers of the Prince George’s County Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division failed to advise Ford of the right to have a representative from the Association present during the criminal investigative interview that yielded information that later formed part of the basis for his termination. The case involves a total of four issues: (I) whether the County had the authority to enter into a collective bargaining agreement that requires a Weingarten advisement before a criminal investigative interview of one of the County’s police civilian employees; (II) whether the provision in the collective bargaining agreement that mandates Weingarten advisements before investigatory interviews applies to criminal investigative interviews; (III) whether the arbitration award violates a ¹⁸⁴ public policy of effective law enforcement; and (IV) whether the arbitrator had the authority to award reinstatement and back pay to the employee. We hold that, under the County’s code, the County lacked the authority to enter into a collective bargaining agreement that requires a Weingarten advisement before a criminal investigative interview of one of the County’s police civilian employees; thus, the arbitrator exceeded his authority by basing the arbitration award on the determination that the County had violated the collective bargaining agreement because officers of the Criminal Investigations Division failed to make a Weingarten advisement. 1 BACKGROUND The Arbitration Award On August 26, 2011, the County terminated the employment of Ford, who had been working in a motor pool of the Prince George’s County Police Department and who was a member of the Association. In issuing an award, the arbitrator construed Article 8.C. of the collective bargaining agreement to provide that Ford was entitled to a Weingarten advisement before the criminal investigative interview.

The arbitrator found the following facts, which we summarize. Article 8.C. of the collective bargaining agreement states in pertinent part: When an employee ... is to be the subject of an investigatory interview or other meeting [that] may result in discipline, ¹⁸⁵ he/she shall be informed in writing at least five (5) working days prior to the start of the interview ... of his/her right to have present, upon request, a[n Association] representative— [I]f an immediate interview is required!],] and the designated [Association] representative is unavailable, the employee may select another [Association] representative who can be present during the investigatory interview. Article 8.1. of the collective bargaining agreement stated in pertinent part: The [County] will not initiate disciplinary action against an employee later than ninety (90) calendar days after the occurrence (or after the [County] was aware of the occurrence) of the alleged infraction or violation of Departmental rules or regulations or of the Personnel Law____ These time limits shall apply to alleged infractions or violations [that] affect only the [County]-employee relationship. They shall not apply to alleged violations or infractions [that] are also criminal violations nor to non-criminal violations [that] are related to an active criminal investigation.

Ford was the subject of two investigations: a criminal investigation of allegations of theft of a handgun, impersonation of a law enforcement officer, and use of law enforcement vehicles; and an internal affairs investigation of Ford’s conduct as an employee. On May 15, 2011, a law enforcement officer reported that her handgun was missing. On May 16, 2011, after advising Ford of his Miranda rights 2 (which Ford waived in writing), but without advising Ford of his Weingarten right, officers of the Prince George’s County Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division interviewed Ford. The interview took fourteen hours and lasted into the morning of May 17, 2011.

With regard to the interview, the arbitrator found: After a very brief exchange about the missing [hand]gun, the [interview] focused entirely on [Ford]’s performance of ¹⁸⁶ his job, especially whether [Ford] had on multiple occasions impersonated a [law enforcement] officer and had driven [law enforcement] vehicles as if he were an officer on duty, even pulling over speeding cars[ ] using [the law enforcement] vehicle’s air horn____ [N]ot to characterize the [] interview ... as an investigatory interview that may [have] resulted] in discipline would be unrealistic.... [T]he inquiry became [about Ford]’s behavior as an employee who, from time to time, drove, refueled[,] and maintained [law enforcement] vehicles[. 3 ] The arbitrator noted that, at the arbitration hearing, the County argued that the decision to discharge Ford was supported by Ford’s own admissions. 4 On the same day, the officers of the Criminal Investigations Division also interviewed Khari Grooms (“Grooms”), an acquaintance of Ford’s. Grooms told the officers of the Criminal Investigations Division that Ford had told Grooms that he was a law enforcement officer, and had taken Grooms on multiple ¹⁸⁷ “ride-alongs.” The arbitrator found: “Many of Grooms’[s] assertions were denied by [Ford], but[,] ultimately[,], the [officers of the Criminal Investigations Division] believed Grooms’[s] version of events.” On May 17, 2011, Ford was placed on administrative leave due to the ongoing criminal investigation. In a written notice dated July 6, 2011, the Prince George’s County Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division notified Ford of an investigation regarding whether Ford had used law enforcement vehicles without authorization for personal reasons; in the notice, the Internal Affairs Division advised Ford of his Weingarten right. On the same day, with a representative from the Association present, a member of the Internal Affairs Division interviewed Ford.

On July 19, 2011, with a representative from the Association present, a member of the Internal Affairs Division performed another interview of Ford. The arbitrator found: “It would be unrealistic to claim that [the May 1617 interview by the officers of the Criminal Investigations Division] was wholly unrelated to the [Internal Affairs Division] investigation that began on July 6,” 2011. On August 12, 2011, Ford was issued a “Notice of Intent, Proposed Disciplinary Action (Conduct Related).” On August 26, 2011, Ford was issued a “Notice of Final Disciplinary Action (Conduct Related),” which advised that he had been terminated because of nine alleged violations of State and local law. Specifically, the Notice of Final Disciplinary Action advised that Ford had been terminated for allegedly violating: Prince George’s Cnty.

Code (“PGCC”) § 18-160(b) (“No member of the Police Department, under any circumstances, shall make any ... intentional misrepresentation of facts.”) by making a false statement during the May 16, 2011 interview and a false statement during the July 19, 2011 interview; 5 ¹⁸⁸ PGCC § 18-160(a) (“No member of the Police Department shall intentionally violate any law of ... any state[.]”) and Md.Code Ann., Crim. Law (2002, 2012 Repl.Vol.) (“CR”) § 7-203 (Unauthorized Removal of Property) by “tak[ing] unmarked [law enforcement] vehicle[s] ... without authorization” on six occasions; 6 and PGCC § 18-160(a) and Md.Code Ann., Pub. Safety (2003, 2011 Repl.Vol., 2015 Supp.) (“PS”) § 3-502 (Impersonating Police Officer) by falsely identifying himself to Grooms as a law enforcement officer. 7 The arbitrator found that Ford had not intentionally engaged in criminal behavior, but had used bad judgment by acting in ways that caused others to assume that he was a law enforcement officer, and by not disavowing that impression when it clearly had been internalized by Grooms and perhaps by others. The arbitrator sustained Ford’s grievance, vacated the County’s termination of his employment, imposed a thirty-day suspension instead, and granted back pay to Ford.

The arbitrator based the arbitration award on the following findings: (1) Ford never “acted with the intent that would be required to prove that he [committed] the crimes [that were] enumerated in the charges against him”; (2) the County’s “personnel procedures ... encourage progressive discipline”; (3) the County’s personnel “procedures also recommend that mitigating factors ... be taken into consideration,” and Ford’s misconduct was mitigated by his “excellent employment record”; and (4) the County violated the collective bargaining agreement because the officers of the Criminal Investigations ¹⁸⁹ Division failed to advise Ford of his Weingarten right. 8 The County filed a petition to vacate the arbitration award, which the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County (“the circuit court”) denied. Proceedings in the Court of Special Appeals The County appealed, and the Court of Special Appeals vacated both the circuit court’s judgment and the arbitration award and remanded for a rehearing before a new arbitrator, holding in pertinent part that the arbitration award was contrary to an explicit, dominant, and well-defined public policy of effective law enforcement. See Prince George’s Cnty., MD. ex rel. Prince George’s Cnty.

Police Dep’t v. Prince George’s Cnty. Police Civilian Emps. Ass’n, 219 Md.App. 108, 137, 134 , 98 A.3d 1094, 1111, 1109 (2014). In its analysis, the Court of Special Appeals did not address whether the County had the authority to enter into a collective bargaining agreement that requires a Weingarten advisement before a criminal investigative interview of one of the County’s employees.

Instead, the Court of Special Appeals held that “expanding the requirement of [the] Weingarten right[ ] to union employees [who] are the focus of a criminal investigation violates public policy[,]” id. at 129-30 , 98 A.3d at 1107 ; that “the arbitrator’s award ... constrains the ability of the [Prince George’s County Police Department] to conduct criminal investigations and interrogations of [Association] members[,]” id. at 132 , 98 A.3d at 1108 ; and that “[t]he serious crime of theft of a [law enforcement] officer’s [handgun] and impersonating a [law enforcement] officer cannot give way to an employee’s Weingarten right[ ]. To do so ... would interfere with the [Prince George’s County Police Department’s ¹⁹⁰ ability to investigate crimes and violate the public policy of effective law enforcement,” id. at 134 , 98 A.3d at 1109 . In other words, although the Court of Special Appeals held that the arbitrator’s award violated public policy, the Court of Special Appeals did not assess whether the County had the authority to bargain/contract away the ability to conduct criminal investigations without making Weingarten advisements; rather, the Court of Special Appeals held that the violation of public policy arose because giving the Weingarten advisement would interfere with the police department’s ability to investigate crime. Proceedings in this Court The Association petitioned for a writ of certiorari, raising one issue: “[Did] the Court of Special Appeals err[ ] when it declared a public policy that was contrary to well-established rules ... ?” The County cross-petitioned for a writ of certiorari, raising only the issue concerning reinstatement and back pay.

This Court granted the petition and the cross-petition. See Prince George’s Cnty. Police Civilian Emps. v. Prince George’s Cnty., 441 Md. 217 , 107 A.3d 1141 (2015). On September 2, 2015, we heard oral argument as to these two issues.

On November 24, 2015, we ordered supplemental briefing and reargument as to the following two issues: 1. Did the negotiators of the collective bargaining agreement between [the] County and the [ ] Association have the authority to enter into a contractual provision that extends a Weingarten right to criminal investigations? 2. As a matter of contract interpretation, does Article 8.C. of the collective bargaining agreement apply to criminal investigations? The parties filed supplemental briefs.

On March 8, 2016, we heard reargument. DISCUSSION The Parties’ Contentions In its supplemental brief, the Association contends that the County had the authority to enter into a collective bargaining ¹⁹¹ agreement requiring that a criminal investigative interview of one of its civilian employees not occur without a Weingarten advisement being given to the employee. The Association relies on PGCC § 13A-109(a), which states in pertinent part: “The employer[ 9 ] and the exclusive [collective bargaining] representative ... shall negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment [that] are subject to negotiation under this law[.]” Specifically, the Association argues that a Weingarten advisement is a term or condition of employment that is subject to good faith negotiation under PGCC § 13A-109(a). Alternatively, the Association asserts that this Court cannot conclude that the County lacked the authority to enter into a collective bargaining agreement that requires a Weingarten advisement before a criminal investigative interview of one of the County’s employees, as the County did not “submit th[e] question of negotiability to” the Prince George’s County Public Employee Relations Board.

In its supplemental brief, the County responds that PGCC § 13A-109(a) does not confer upon the County the authority to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement that affects the manner in which the Prince George’s County Police Department conducts criminal investigations. The County argues that PGCC § 13A-109(a) is unambiguous in that it cannot be construed to grant the County such authority. The County asserts that, to the extent that the collective bargaining agreement purports to mandate Weingarten advisements during criminal investigations, the collective bargaining agreement is ultra vires. 10 ¹⁹² Standard of Review An appellate court reviews without deference a trial court’s ruling on a petition to vacate an arbitration award. See Balt.

Cnty. Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 4 v. Balt. Cnty., 429 Md. 533, 565, 540-41 , 57 A.3d 425, 443, 429 (2012) (This Court reviewed for “legal[ ] correctness]” a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in a case that was based on a complaint to vacate an arbitration award.). “[Arbitration is favored and encouraged in Maryland because it provides an informal, expeditious, and inexpensive alternative to conventional litigation.” Amalgamated Transit Union v. Lovelace, 441 Md. 560, 576 , 109 A.3d 96, 106 (2015) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Accordingly, “judicial review of an arbitration award is very narrowly limited[.]” Downey v. Sharp, 428 Md. 249, 268 , 51 A.3d 573, 585 (2012) (citation omitted). “[C]ourts generally defer to [an] arbitrator’s findings of fact and applications of law.

Mere errors of law and fact do not ordinarily furnish grounds for a court to vacate ... an arbitration award.” Id. at 266 , 51 A.3d at 583 (brackets, citations, ellipsis, and internal quotation marks omitted). Accordingly, in Amalgamated Transit Union, Div. 1300 v. Mass Transit Admin., 305 Md. 380, 388 , 504 A.2d 1132, 1136 (1986), this Court quoted Judge Thurgood Marshall’s opinion ¹⁹³ in Local 458, Int’l Union of Elec., Radio & Mach. Workers, AFL-CIO v. Otis Elevator Co., 314 F.2d 25, 28 (2d Cir.1963), cert. denied, 373 U.S. 949 , 83 S.Ct. 1680 , 10 L.Ed.2d 705 (1963), as an illustration of the principle that a court may not substitute its interpretation of a contract for an arbitrator’s: Having bargained for the decision of the arbitrator on the question of whether [an employee]’s conduct and criminal conviction constituted “just cause” for discharge, the parties are bound by it, even if it be regarded as unwise or wrong on the merits; “so far as the arbitrator’s decision concerns construction of the contract, the courts have no business overruling [the arbitration award] because their interpretation of the contract is different from [the arbitrator’s].” United Steelworkers of America v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593, 599 [ 80 S.Ct. 1358 , 4 L.Ed.2d 1424 ] (1960). Md.Code Ann., Cts. & Jud.

Proc. (1973, 2013 Repl.Vol.) (“CJ”) § 3-224(b) provides some of the limited grounds for judicial review of an arbitration award as follows: [A] court shall vacate an [arbitration] award if: (1) An [arbitration] award was procured by corruption, fraud, or other undue means; (2) There was evident partiality by an arbitrator appointed as a neutral, corruption in any arbitrator, or misconduct prejudicing the rights of any party; (3) The arbitrators exceeded their powers; (4) The arbitrators refused to postpone the hearing upon sufficient cause being shown for the postponement, refused to hear evidence material to the controversy, or otherwise so conducted the hearing, contrary to the provisions of [CJ] § 3-213 [ (Arbitration Hearing and Notice) ] as to prejudice substantially the rights of a party; or (5) There was no arbitration agreement as described in [CJ] § 3-206 [ (Validity of Arbitration Agreements) ], the issue was not adversely determined in proceedings under [CJ] § 3-208 [ (Stay of Arbitration) ], and the party did not participate in the arbitration hearing without raising the objection. ¹⁹⁴ (Paragraph breaks omitted). 11 Maryland Case Law and Authority from Other Jurisdictions This case implicates the third statutory ground for judicial review of an arbitration award — namely, whether an “arbitrator ] exceeded [the arbitrator’s] powers[.]” CJ § 3 — 224(b)(3). In Downey, 428 Md. at 263 , 51 A.3d at 582 , this Court explained that the issue of whether an arbitrator exceeded the arbitrator’s authority is not the same as the issue of whether the arbitration award was rational or legally correct. In Downey, id. at 256-57, 51 A.3d at 578 , a trial court granted a petition to confirm an arbitration award.

The Court of Special Appeals reversed the trial court’s judgment and remanded the case to the trial court with instructions to vacate several findings within the arbitration award because the arbitrator exceeded his authority. See id. at 258-59 , 51 A.3d at 579-80 . The Court of Special Appeals reasoned that the arbitrator exceeded his authority because the arbitration award was “completely irrational” and in “manifest disregard of the law.” Id. at 262 , 51 A.3d at 581-82 . This Court disagreed with the reasoning of the Court of Special Appeals, stating: The Court of Special Appeals’[s] reliance on [CJ] § 3-224(b)(3), i.e., the statutory ground [for review] of an [arbitration] award [that] exceeds the arbitrator’s powers, is ... misplaced____[A]n issue or matter [that is] resolved by an [arbitration] award may be rational and legally correct[,] but the arbitrator, under the arbitration agreement, may have had no power or authority to resolve the particular issue.

On the other hand, an issue may have clearly been within the arbitrator’s powers, but the arbitrator’s resolution of the issue may have been irrational or manifestly ¹⁹⁵ erroneous as a matter of law.... Consequently, judicial review of an arbitrat[ion] award on the basis of “irrationality” or “manifest error of law” does not fall within any of the grounds [ ] in [CJ] § 3-224(b)[.] Id. at 263, 51 A.3d at 582 (emphasis added). Our holding in Downey, id. at 263, 51 A.3d at 582 , makes clear that the issue of whether an arbitrator exceeded the arbitrator’s authority is not the same as the issue of whether the arbitration award was legally correct. That said, none of this Court’s precedent indicates that a court must give any deference to an arbitration award where the issue is whether the arbitrator exceeded the arbitrator’s powers.

Indeed, this Court’s precedent leads to the conclusion that an arbitrator exceeds the arbitrator’s authority by issuing an award that arises out of a contract that one party lacked the authority to enter. In Bd. of Educ. of Charles Cnty. v. Educ. Ass’n of Charles Cnty., 286 Md. 358, 366-67, 359 , 408 A.2d 89, 93, 89 (1979), this Court upheld an arbitration award where, several months after the arbitrator issued the arbitration award, a party challenged the arbitration award on the ground that the arbitrator had exceeded his powers by enforcing an illegal contract. This Court concluded that the party’s challenge was untimely under CJ § 3-224(a)(1), which, both now and at the time of Bd. of Educ. of Charles Cnty., stated: “[A] petition to vacate [an arbitration] award shall be filed within [thirty] days after delivery of a copy of the [arbitration] award to the petitioner.” Bd. of Educ. of Charles Cnty., 286 Md. at 366-67, 360 , 408 A.2d at 93, 90 .

More broadly, this Court “h[e]ld that the provisions of [CJ §] 3-227 [ (Confirmation of Award by Court) ],[ 12 ] as well as the provisions of [CJ §] 3-224, are mandatory. A trial court must confirm an arbitration award unless the [arbitration] award is challenged within ¹⁹⁶ the applicable time constraints.” Bd. of Educ. of Charles Cnty., 286 Md. at 366 , 408 A.2d at 93 . Both now and at the time of Bd. of Educ. of Charles Cnty., id. at 360, 408 A.2d at 90 , CJ § 3—224(b)(3) stated: “The court shall vacate an [arbitration] award if ... [t]he arbitrators exceeded their powers[.]” Significantly, in Bd. of Educ. of Charles Cnty., id. at 366, 408 A.2d at 93 , this Court stated: The provisions and time constraints of [CJ §§] 3-227 and [ ] 3-224 apply equally, whether the arbitration award is challenged on the ground that the underlying contract is invalid because of fraud or on the ground that the arbitrator exceeded his [or her] powers because the underlying contract was illegal— [CJ §§] 3-224 and 3-227 establish an orderly mechanism whereby a court, not an arbitrator, makes the final determination of the legality of a contract before an arbitration award is enforced. (Emphasis added).

Thus, in Bd. of Educ. of Charles Cnty., id. at 366, 408 A.2d at 93 , although the legality of the underlying contract was not before us, we unequivocally stated that an arbitrator exceeds the arbitrator’s powers by issuing an award where the underlying contract is invalid. With the above jurisprudence in mind, we address the issues of whether the County had the authority to enter into a collective bargaining agreement that requires a Weingarten advisement before a criminal investigative interview of one of the County’s police civilian employees, and whether, as a result, the arbitrator exceeded his authority. As noted above, this Court has not previously considered whether a county has the authority to enter into a collective bargaining agreement that requires a Weingarten advisement before a criminal investigative interview of one of the county’s police civilian employees. As such, we examine cases in which courts in other jurisdictions have addressed similar issues.

Our inquiry reveals that courts in two other States, Illinois and New York, have addressed the issue of whether public employees had the right to advisements of the right to union representation before interviews by criminal investigators. In ¹⁹⁷ Ill. State Police v. Fraternal Order of Police Troopers Lodge No. 41, 323 Ill.App.3d 322 , 256 Ill.Dec. 424 , 751 N.E.2d 1261, 1265, 1263 (2001), the Appellate Court of Illinois held, among other things, that an arbitrator exceeded his authority by “ruling that [a law enforcement agency could] not interrogate its employees regarding criminal matters unless it complie[d] with” a collective bargaining agreement under which a non-probationary law enforcement officer had the right to have a union representative or counsel present during any interview that was part of an “investigation that could result in ‘discipline.’ ” In Ill. State Police, id. 256 Ill.Dec. 424 , 751 N.E.2d at 1263 , members of the law enforcement agency’s division of internal investigation interviewed a law enforcement officer as part of a criminal investigation of an alleged insurance fraud scheme.

The members of the law enforcement agency’s division of internal investigation advised the law enforcement officer of his Miranda rights, but not of his right to have a union representative present during the interview. See id. Although the law enforcement officer did not become the subject of criminal charges or disciplinary action, he filed a grievance in which he alleged that the law enforcement agency violated the collective bargaining agreement. See id.

On three occasions, members of the law enforcement agency’s division of internal investigation interviewed a different law enforcement officer about alleged sexual relations with a fourteen-year-old. See id. During the first interview, the investigation was considered a criminal matter; members of the law enforcement agency’s division of internal investigation advised the law enforcement officer of his constitutional rights; and, without a union representative present, the law enforcement officer made inculpatory statements. See id.

During the second interview, the investigation was considered an administrative matter; a union representative was allowed to be present; 13 and the law enforcement officer recanted his ¹⁹⁸ inculpatory statements. See id., 256 Ill.Dec. 424 , 751 N.E.2d at 1263-64 . During the third interview, the investigation was still considered an administrative matter, and, again, a union representative was allowed to be present. See id., 256 Ill.Dec. 424 , 751 N.E.2d at 1264 .

The law enforcement agency terminated the law enforcement officer, who filed a grievance in which he alleged that the law enforcement agency had violated the collective bargaining agreement. See id. Pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement, the law enforcement officers’ union submitted both officers’ grievances to arbitration. See id.

An arbitrator sustained both officers’ grievances and determined that the law enforcement agency had failed to comply with the collective bargaining agreement as to the interviews that had been part of criminal investigations, See id. The law enforcement agency filed a complaint to vacate the arbitration award, and a trial court affirmed the arbitration award. See id. The Appellate Court of Illinois began its analysis by recognizing that “judicial review of an arbitration award is extremely limited.” Id., 256 Ill.Dec. 424 , 751 N.E.2d at 1265 (citation omitted).

That Court noted that one ground for judicial review of an arbitration award is the issue of whether “the arbitrator act[ed] within the scope of [the arbitrator’s] authority!.]” Id. (citation omitted). It bears mention that Maryland law encompasses these principles as well. See Downey, 428 Md. at 268 , 51 A.3d at 585 (“[J]udicial review of an arbitration award is very narrowly limited!.]” (Citation omitted)); CJ § 3-224(b)(3) (“[A] court shall vacate an [arbitration] award if ... [t]he arbitrators exceeded their powers!.]”).

The Appellate Court of Illinois noted that another ground for judicial review of an arbitration award is the issue of whether the arbitration “award draws its essence from the [] collective! ]bargaining agreement.” Ill. State Police, 256 Ill.Dec. 424 , 751 N.E.2d at 1265 (citation omitted). The Appellate Court of Illinois reversed the trial court’s judgment and remanded with instructions to vacate the arbitration award. See id., 256 Ill.Dec. 424 , 751 N.E.2d at 1267 . ¹⁹⁹ That Court provided three reasons for vacating the arbitration award.

First, the arbitrator exceeded his authority because the arbitration award “was not drawn from the essence of the” collective bargaining agreement, id., 256 Ill.Dec. 424 , 751 N.E.2d at 1265 ; by its own terms, the relevant provision of the collective bargaining agreement did not apply to criminal investigations, see id. (“[T]he terms of [the relevant provision of the collective bargaining agreement] suggest that they apply to disciplinary proceedings, not criminal investigations.”). Second, the arbitrator exceeded his authority by “ruling that [the law enforcement agency could] not interrogate its employees regarding criminal matters unless it complie[d] with the” collective bargaining agreement. Id.

And third, the arbitration award “violate[d] the public policy of effective law enforcement.” Id., 256 Ill.Dec. 424 , 751 N.E.2d at 1267 . 14 Significantly, as to the second reason for vacating the arbitration award — namely, that the arbitrator exceeded his authority by ruling that the law enforcement agency could not interrogate its employees regarding criminal matters unless it complied with the collective bargaining agreement — the Appellate Court of Illinois explained: ²⁰⁰ [A]n employer cannot by contract give its employees procedural rights and benefits regarding criminal investigations. The fact that the employer in this case is the Illinois State Police is immaterial. Clearly, when [the Illinois State Police] is investigating an employee’s criminal conduct, it is acting under its statutory duty to enforce the laws of the State of Illinois, not as an employer. Ill.

State Police, 256 Ill.Dec. 424 , 751 N.E.2d at 1266 (emphasis added) (citation omitted). The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York reached a similar conclusion in City of New York v. Uniformed Fire Officers Ass’n, Local 854, IAFF, AFL-CIO, 263 A.D.2d 3 , 699 N.Y.S.2d 355, 360 (1999), aff'd, 95 N.Y.2d 273 , 716 N.Y.S.2d 353 , 739 N.E.2d 719 (2000). In City of New York, 699 N.Y.S.2d at 356 , the New York City Fire Department and the firefighters’ union were parties to a collective bargaining agreement, under which a firefighter needed to be advised of the firefighter’s right to have a union representative present during any interview in which the firefighter was “a suspect in a departmental investigation^]” The New York City Department of Investigation interviewed firefighters without allowing a union representative to be present. See id. at 357.

The firefighters’ union filed a grievance and demanded arbitration. See id. at 356. The New York City Board of Collective