Arbitrator’s award given res judicata effect in subsequent suit for recovery of misappropriated fundsPeter Gibson was fired from his job after he was accused of receiving almost $200,000.00, allegedly from funds misappropriated by his ex-wife from their employer and directed to an account that he and his ex-wife shared. That termination was submitted to arbitration, and Arbitrator Mattye Gandel issued an award finding “beyond a reasonable doubt” that, while Gibson may not have participated the misappropriation of…

Right to subcontract didn’t authorize eliminating unit positions by attritionThe District Court for the District of New Jersey has denied a request by ExxonMobil Research and Engineering to vacate an award of Arbitrator Joyce M. Klein. The dispute arose over the Union’s claim that ExxonMobil violated the cba when it permanently contracted certain bargaining unit positions the Company claimed were non core. While the contract allowed the Company to contract work, it required notice to…

Arbitrator ignored Last Chance Agreement – Award vacated The Sixth Circuit has affirmed a District Court decision vacating an award of Arbitrator John M. Felice. Tecnocap, LLC v. Graphic Communications Conference/International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 24M   Grievant was terminated after an absence caused by his car breaking down. Relying on a last chance agreement entered into by grievant and the Union, the employer terminated his employment. While acknowledging the LCA, the Arbitrator concluded:  The fundamental principle…

Arbitrator Walt De Treux has dismissed tenure charges against a Cinnaminson, NJ teacher, concluding that the charges were based on hearsay and conduct that was addressed 16 years ago.  Arbitrator De Treux’s award can be found here.The teacher had been employed by the District since 1996. In 2002, he was the subject of a newspaper article that described his alleged relationship with a minor in 1990.  Shortly after the report was published, the teacher was…

Despite a cba’s inclusion of a provision containing a list of offenses which would provide “absolute cause” for termination, the Eight Circuit has upheld an arbitrator’s award reinstating an employee found to have committed the listed offenses. CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp. v. Gas Workers Union, Local No. 340The applicable cba acknowledged the Company’s right to terminate employees for cause, but also included the following language: Without excluding other causes for discharge, the following shall…

Reversing the District Court, the Seventh Circuit has found that a dispute between Brock Industrial Services and two of its unions (the Carpenters and the Laborers) was a jurisdictional dispute excluded from arbitration under the Laborer’s cba with Brock. Under the applicable cba, work-jurisdiction disputes were subject to a separate tripartite procedure. Brock Industrial Services, LLC v. Laborers International Union Brock had initially assigned certain scaffolding work to employees represented by the Laborers. Shortly thereafter,…

Arbitrator Michel Ryan has upheld a grievance filed by IAFF Local 2748 against the City of Warwick, RI. (here) The grievance asserted that the City had unilaterally modified the firefighter’s pension plan through passage of a City ordinance creating a two tier plan applicable to new hires.  Arbitrator Ryan initially rejected the City’s claim that the grievance had not been filed in a timely manner, accepting the Union’s explanation that it waited to file…