Friday, February 17, 2012

Labor Arbitration in the News

Arbitrator Frank Kapsch has upheld the termination of a Hasting, Minn. police officer for his conduct in emailing a civilian and his inappropriate interaction with her. Arbitrator rules city was justified in firing Hastings officer, who had engaged in inappropriate relationship with domestic abuse victim | The Hastings Star-Gazette | Hastings, Minnesota.  A copy of Arbitrator Kapsch’s award can be found here.

In what it described as an “exquisitely close case”, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has declined to find a union representative engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in representing the union in a labor arbitration concerning minimum staffing levels. While noting that the presentation of evidence and the examination and cross examination of witnesses were activities usually performed by attorneys, the court was reluctant to disturb the widespread practice of lay representation in labor arbitration. It concluded that  “…we will not limit [non lawyer] involvement at this time. We may in the future, however, decide the generic issue of nonlawyers participating in public grievance arbitrations." Non-lawyers allowed to act in RI labor arbitration - Boston.com. The court’s decision can be found here.

American Airlines has filed an action seeking to set aside an award reinstating a  pilot  after his termination for "lack(ing) the basic airmanship skills necessary to serve as an airline pilot." Up in the Air


Costs of arbitration in the USPS  USPS paid out $28 million in arbitration awards in 1st quarter and the MBTA  Big bucks for axed T stiffs.

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