O'Keefe v. Department of Social Services

In June, 1982, plaintiffs, Sean O’Keefe and Kathleen Billmieir, were laid off by defendant Department of Social Services. Defendant Michigan State Employees Association was their exclusive union representative. The collective bargaining agreement between the dss and the msea established layoff and recall procedures. This lawsuit originated in the interpretation of those procedures.

Basically, the agreement provided that recall was to be made in the inverse order of seniority. Seniority was defined as "length of service at a level, including service at a higher level.” "Level” was defined as…