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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS


AFSCME LOCAL 1583, Respondent-Appellee, v JOSEPH GANT, Charging Party-Appellant.

UNPUBLISHED January 18, 2007

No. 263981 MERC LC No. 04-000037

Before: White, P.J., and Zahra and Kelly, JJ. PER CURIAM. Charging Party Joseph Gant, acting in propria persona, claims an appeal from an order entered by the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) dismissing his unfair labor practice charge. We affirm. On July 27, 2004, Gant filed an unfair labor practice charge. He alleged that respondent had violated its duty of fair representation by: mishandling grievances it filed on his behalf in 1999 and 2000 regarding his suspension and discharge; making false statements about the case; and disobeying directives to reopen the case. The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) recommended that Gant's charge be dismissed in its entirety. The ALJ noted that the applicable six-month statute of limitations in MCL 423.216(a) was jurisdictional and could not be waived, and commenced when the injured person knew of his injury and had good reason to believe that the act that caused the injury was improper. Huntington Woods v Wines, 122 Mich App 650, 652; 332 NW2d 557 (1983). The ALJ found that the actions about which Gant complained took place in 1999 and 2000; therefore, his charge was untimely. MERC adopted the recommendation of the ALJ and dismissed the case. MERC noted that Gant knew of the actions that formed the bases of his charges in 1999 and 2000, and had reason to believe that they were improper when they occurred. MERC found that Gant's unfair labor practice charge was untimely under MCL 423.216(a). MERC's findings of fact are conclusive if they are supported by competent, material, and substantial evidence on the whole record. Const 1963, art 6,

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