Is an employee barred from bringing claims in a lawsuit under anti-discrimination statutes because of an adverse ruling by an arbitrator under a union contract? "No," the Sixth Circuit ruled and reiterated recently in Nance v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (decided May 23, 2008).
The employee, Nance, suffered from a variety of medical problems following a work-related injury. She attempted and failed to return to work due to these problems. The company fired her and asserted that she violated a "no call, no show" rule and had "resigned without notice" under a union contract. She filed a grievance, it went to arbitration and the arbitrator ruled that her firing did not violate the union contract. Nance then filed suit, claiming, among other things, that her firing violated the Americans With Disabilities Act and other laws. The trial court dismissed the case, ruling that her claims were barred by the arbitrator's adverse decision. This was error, according to the Sixth Circuit.
The court first noted that Nance's rights under the union contract were of a "distinctly different nature" than the "independent statutory rights" accorded by the anti-discrimination statutes. Second, an arbitrator is not competent to adjudicate claims under anti-discrimination laws: "the expertise of arbitrators lies in the application of facts to the terms of an employee's contract or collective bargaining agreement [and] the expertise of federal courts lies in the application of facts to anti-discrimination statutes." Furthermore, the court added, the irregular procedures used in arbitration -- the absence of the right to trial by jury, the usual absence for an arbitrator to explain their decision, the truncated and incomplete records usually generated in arbitration proceedings, the limited judicial review and the spotty application of evidence and other rules -- were generally inadequate to assure protection of the important rights guaranteed under anti-discrimination statutes. However, the court did allow that evidence of an arbitrator's decision could be considered depending on the degree of procedural fairness, the adequacy of the record and the particular expertise of the arbitrator.
Robert L. Abell
www.robertabelllaw.com
