holding that settlement agreements reached short of formal arbitration are entitled to enforcement in federal courts if agreement is final and binding on the parties
How later courts described this case
- holding that settlement agreements reached short of formal arbitration are entitled to enforcement in federal courts if agreement is final and binding on the parties
- concluding that the collective bargaining agreement provides the means by which the parties may negotiate a last chance agreement
- agreements reached as part of disciplinary process constitute formal contractual settlements of labor disputes and should be construed as part of the CBA
- “When a party claims that the chosen means of dispute resolution is private settlement, we have no reason to defer to the arbitrator’s decision.”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
GEORGE CLIFTEN EDWARDS, Jr.,
dissenting.
District Judge Cook enforced an arbitrator’s award which had the effect of putting back to work an alcoholic employee who had previously signed a “last chance” *357 agreement after he had been discharged for drunkenness on the job. Subsequently he was charged with violating the agreement by failing twice to attend Alcoholic Anonymous meetings and discharged by the Company.
On arbitration of his discharge, as called for by the labor management agreement, one of the two failures was excused by the arbitrator who heard the grievance and ordered that he be given yet “another chance.” It should be noted that his discharge is not based on any repetition of any employment offense.
My respect for the use of arbitration in labor management procedures helps to motivate my conclusion that Judge Cook was correct in accepting the arbitrator’s award. Much more importantly, this conclusion is also motivated by the strong preference for arbitration of labor disputes expressed by the United States Supreme Court in United Steelworkers v. American Manufacturing Co., 363 U.S. 564 , 80 S.Ct. 1343 , 4 L.Ed.2d 1403 (1960); United Steelworkers v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co., 363 U.S. 574 , 80 S.Ct. 1347 , 4 L.Ed.2d 1409 (1960); United Steelworkers v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593 , 80 S.Ct. 1358 , 4 L.Ed.2d 1424 (1960).