Board of Education of Community Consolidated High School District No. 230 v. Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board

We are here asked to construe the following sequence of events:

Two parties during labor contract negotiations disagree on the interpretation of a matter within the ambit of a State administrative agency. They seek that agency’s guidance in resolving the controversy. A hearing officer of that agency hands down a recommended decision. The party to which that decision is adverse requests review within the agency structure. A majority of a three-member panel, sitting as the agency’s final reviewing body, renders an order effectively reversing the hearing officer’s determination, with one member…