University of New Mexico Police Officer's Ass'n v. University of New Mexico

OPINION

BOSSON, Chief Justice.

{1} We decide whether NMSA 1978, Section 37-1-23(A) (1976), granting governmental immunity from contract actions not based upon a “valid written contract,” allows an ambiguous term of a written collective bargaining agreement, in this instance wages, to be defined by oral representations extrinsic to the contract. The district court and the Court of Appeals, the latter with each panel member writing separately, concluded that the contract was enforceable notwithstanding statutory governmental immunity. Under the facts of this case we agree, and hold that the…