Township of Sugarloaf v. Bowling

OPINION

CAPPY, Justice.

We granted this matter in order to determine whether the trial court or the arbitrator has the initial jurisdiction to determine the arbitraribility of a grievance brought by a police officer. We now hold that the issue of whether a particular matter is arbitrable pursuant to Act 1111 is an issue which must be submitted first to the arbitrator, and that it is error to bring the issue of jurisdiction first to the trial court. We therefore affirm the Commonwealth Court’s vacatur of the trial court’s order, albeit on different grounds.

On July 1, 1995, Anthony R. Bowling…