One of the few exceptions to the rule that arbitration is final and binding is known as the “public policy” doctrine. Under the doctrine, if an arbitrator’s award violates a clearly articulated and dominant public policy, a court will refuse to enforce it. When applying the public policy doctrine, courts – from the United States Supreme Court to federal and state courts around the country – have been careful…
Parties to contracts such as labor agreements can choose to substitute arbitration for a court resolution of contractual disputes. With two notable exceptions, final and binding arbitration of grievances is just that: final and binding. As the Supreme Court held in United Steelworkers of America v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593 (1960), a court should not disturb a labor arbitrator’s decision unless the decision does not…
Detective Brandon Potts worked for the Devils Lake Police Department in North Dakota. North Dakota has no statewide collective bargaining laws, and many public safety officers are considered “at-will” employees who can be terminated at the will of the employer. Employees who are at-will have no job security rights and typically can only sue to overturn their termination if the termination violates public policy. As Potts recently learned, it…
Corporal Brendon Johnson works as a corrections corporal in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. On May 8, 2016, Johnson responded to a call involving a female inmate with a known history of noncompliance. The inmate had flooded her cell by intentionally clogging her toilet and causing it to overflow. Johnson ordered the inmate to come down from her bunk and, after a period of defiance, she complied with Johnson’s directive. Johnson…
Firefighters for the Dracut Fire Department in Massachusetts are represented by IAFF Local 2586. Local 2586 holds meetings on a monthly basis. By necessity, these meetings are scheduled during a shift. Prior to 1986, union meetings were held off-site, at bars or in restaurants. In 1986, the parties agreed that, in order to ensure attendance at meetings by members and union officers assigned to work the shift when the…
With increasing frequency, employers are lodging public policy challenges to arbitration decisions that reinstate terminated public safety employees. The basic argument in such cases, which often involve terminated police officers, is that there is a public policy exception to the notion that arbitration decisions are final and binding. The exception provides a basis to vacate an arbitration award that violates a “well-defined and dominant” public policy. A recent Minnesota…
The City of Crystal Lake, Illinois terminated officer Adam Munaretto for failing to reasonably investigate a motorist involved in a rear-end collision for driving under the influence and then allowing the motorist to leave the scene while impaired. After being released by Munaretto with two minor citations, the motorist was almost immediately stopped by another officer for suspicion of driving under the influence. Unlike Munaretto, the second officer administered…
“Final and binding” arbitration is usually considered to be just that – a final resolution of whatever issue is sent to an arbitrator. As long as the decisions of labor arbitrators “draw their essence” from a collective bargaining agreement and are not the product of fraud, those decisions will be upheld even if a court disagrees with either the factual findings or legal conclusions of the arbitrator. One exception…
Most collective bargaining agreements contain grievance procedures that end with arbitration. In the parlance of many contracts, arbitration is “final and binding,” meaning that a party cannot appeal an arbitrator’s decision even if the arbitrator made legal or factual mistakes. There is a limited exception to the finality of arbitration awards, known as the “public policy” exception. Under the exception, an arbitrator’s opinion will be overturned if the decision…
The most commonly-litigated exception to the principle that arbitration decisions are final and binding is known as the “public policy” exception. In general, the public policy exception only arises when a party clearly shows enforcement of the contract, as interpreted by the arbitrator. In a case involving Decatur, Illinois Police Officer Jeremy Welker, the Illinois Court of Appeals gave a broad reading to the public policy exception. Welker was…
In July 2005, an Alaska state trooper attended an out-of-state motorcycle certification program. Upon arrival at the program, the trooper was informed of a rule against horseplay such as performing “burnouts” with a motorcycle. It was later discovered that a student had performed a burnout with one of the motorcycles. At first, when he was asked individually and during a group meeting as to who performed the burnout, the…
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