Thursday, November 5, 2026
Discipline In Practice: Building, Evaluating, And Defending Cases
A point-counterpoint discussion featuring union and management labor counsel.
Presenters: Rob Wexler, Attorney, Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, PC, California and Brett Schneider, Attorney, Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman, P.L., Florida.
9:00 Just Cause: What It Really Means In Practice
A practical look at the standard that governs every discipline case — and how it is actually applied by arbitrators and courts.
- How should decision-makers evaluate “just cause” in real cases?
- Understanding the core elements of defensible discipline.
- How misconduct interacts with the employee’s record and mitigating factors.
10:30 Building (Or Undermining) A Just Cause Case
How the investigation and record shape the outcome long before a case reaches arbitration.
- Conducting investigations that support a defensible outcome.
- Credibility issues: inconsistencies, omissions, and after-the-fact explanations.
12:00 Lunch (Included in registration)
1:00 Applying Just Cause: Making Discipline Decisions
A step-by-step look at how discipline decisions are made — and how those decisions hold up under scrutiny.
- Selecting the discipline: progressive discipline, proportionality, and mitigation.
- The role of comparators and prior discipline in ensuring consistent outcomes.
- Pre-disciplinary process as part of the just cause analysis: opportunity or formality?
2:30 Why Discipline Cases Succeed — Or Fail
A candid look at the factors that determine whether discipline is upheld, reduced, or overturned.
- The most common reasons discipline is modified or reversed.
- Timing issues: delay, stale discipline, and rushed decision-making.
- The impact of prior record, training, and supervision on the just cause analysis.
4:00 Adjournment
