Arbitrator Sustains Grievance Protesting Employer’s Suspension

October 12, 2006 by Beeson Tayer & Bodine

An arbitrator has ruled that the disciplinary rules of a union contract control the employer’s right to suspend employee drivers for whom the employer has failed to obtain driver in- surance. In a case handled by Beeson, Tayer & Bodine attor- ney Andrew Baker for Team- sters Local 70, Arbitrator Wil- liam Riker rejected the em- ployer’s argument that it had a right to place on “unpaid leave” drivers who were ren- dered uninsurable by the driv- er-accident rules of the employer’s insurance carrier.

The Union contract contained detailed rules setting forth thecircumstances under which member drivers could be sus- pended or terminated for driv- ing accidents. Under those rules, the “uninsurable” drivers were not subject to discipline. The Union argued that an un- paid leave is the same as a suspension, and that the col- lective bargaining agreement, not the employer’s insurance carrier rules, controlled the employer’s right to suspend drivers.

The arbitrator agreed, noting, “Under the terms of the CBA, when an employee is deprived of his/her livelihood by the Employer’s action, it is considered a form of discipline and subject to the appeal rights in accordance with … the negoti- ated agreement.” As for the dilemma the employer faced when its insurance carrier re- fused to insure its drivers, while the Union contract limited right to suspend those same drivers, the Arbitrator concluded the Union contract controlled, reasoning: “What is germane in the industrial dispute process is the fact that the Collective Bargaining Agreement is what is relevant and, if not contrary to law, it is binding upon all the parties…”.

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