# American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees v. Department of Central Management Services > Illinois Supreme Court · September 19, 1996 · 173 Ill. 2d 299 URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9819000 ## Case - **Full name:** AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO, Appellee, v. THE DEPARTMENT OF CENTRAL MANAGEMENT SERVICES Et Al., Appellants - **Court:** Illinois Supreme Court - **Decided:** September 19, 1996 - **Citations:** 173 Ill. 2d 299; 219 Ill. Dec. 501; 671 N.E.2d 668; 153 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2525; 1996 Ill. LEXIS 91 - **Precedential status:** Published - **Opinion:** Dissent by Heiple - **Judges:** Freeman, Heiple, Harrison, Nickels - **Cited by:** 136 later opinions in the Frix Law Library ## Citator (automated) - No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases. - Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9819000 ## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction) - holding that arbitral award reinstating—without any discipline—Department of Children and Family Services case worker who fabricated report concerning children in foster care violated public policy, where reinstatement was based on clause in CBA that required any discipline to… - holding that arbitral award - 18 - 2025 IL App (2d) 250080-U reinstating–without any discipline–DCFS case worker who fabricated report concerning children in foster care violated public policy, where reinstatement was based on clause in CBA that required any discipline to be c… - stating that where the collective bargaining agreement did not delineate the time frames within which disciplinary action had to be commenced and was silent as to the remedies that were available once an infraction was found, those matters were left for the arbitrator to deter… - holding that arbitral award - 18 - 2025 IL App (2d - holding that to vacate an arbitral award on public policy grounds, the contract, as interpreted by the arbitrator, must violate some explicit public policy. ## Opinion text JUSTICE HEIPLE, dissenting: Courts are duty bound to enforce labor-arbitration awards premised upon the parties’ collective-bargaining agreements absent fraud, corruption, partiality, misconduct, mistake or failure to submit the question to arbitration. Board of Trustees of Community College District No. 508 v. Cook County College Teachers Union, Local 1600, 74 Ill. 2d 412, 421 (1979). As the majority correctly opines, an exception to this rule exists where enforcement of a contract is repugnant to the public policy favoring the welfare, safety and protection of minors. 173 Ill. 2d at 316. However, the mere identification of a relevant public policy is insufficient to warrant circumventing a collective-bargaining agreement. Rather, our decisions have held that for such public policy exceptions to apply, there must be a nexus between the misconduct of the employee and the harm suffered. See, e.g., American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees v. State of Illinois, 124 Ill. 2d 246, 260-65 (1988) (holding that reinstatement of mental health workers did not violate public policy favoring the competent care of the mentally disabled where, inter alia, no nexus existed between the mistreatment and the patient’s death). In the instant case it is uncontroverted that the DCFS worker’s failure to fulfill her duties was wholly unrelated to the unfortunate deaths of the children at issue. Accordingly, the application of a public policy exception to circumvent the collective-bargaining agreement constitutes an unwarranted application of the public policy exception and I respectfully dissent. --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9819000. Public record. Not legal advice.