Teamsters Local Union No. 776 v. Rite Aid Corp.
Teamsters Local Union No. 776 v. Rite Aid Corp.
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
We consider here Defendant’s motion fpr summary judgment in the above-captioned matter. Our review of the record indicates that there is no dispute about any material fact
This lawsuit is a result of Plaintiff Bupp’s dismissal from employment by Rite Aid Corporation, her employer of approximately seven (7) years. An arbitrator upheld the Company’s decision to terminate Ms. Bupp and it is from this decision that she appeals. The Teamsters Union, Local 776, represents Ms. Bupp’s interest in this appeal and alleges, inter alia, that her firing was in derogation of the progressive discipline requirement of the collective bargaining agreement between the parties and that, because her first “write-up” has been grieved but not ruled upon,-it was erroneous for the arbitrator to find that her dismissal was justified by the requisite two infractions.
Our scope of review of an arbitrator’s decision in this setting is very limited. It is now a venerable practice for district courts to afford great deference to decisions of an arbitrator whose judgment has been bargained for by the parties to a collective bargaining agreement. This has been so since the Supreme Court’s decisions in the “Steelworkers Trilogy” in 1960. This deference to the arbitrator has been amplified in the Third Circuit by the rationale expressed in Ludwig Honold Mfg. Co. v. Fletcher and United Auto Workers, 405 F.2d 1123 (3rd Cir. 1969), wherein the Court of Appeals stated at 1128:
*410 We hold that a labor arbitrator’s award does “draw its essence from the collective bargaining agreement” if the interpretation can in any rational way be derived from the agreement, viewed in the light of its language, its context, and any indicia of the parties’ intention; only where there is a manifest disregard of the agreement, totally unsupported by principles of contract construction and the law of the shop, may a reviewing court disturb the award.
Three years later the Third Circuit stated in Swift Industries v. Botany Industries, Inc., 466 F.2d 1125, 1131 (3rd Cir. 1972), that “... an award of an arbitrator is not subject to judicial revision unless it is completely irrational.” That same year another district court declared: “Under Ludwig Honold it is the award rather than the conclusion or specific reasoning employed that a court must review.” See American Can Company v. United Paperhangers and Paperworkers, 356 F.Supp. 495, 499 (E.D.Pa. 1973). We think this to be a correct statement of the law. Thus, even if we disagree with the thought processes employed by the arbitrator to reach his determination, this will not justify vacating his award unless a showing can be made that said determination was completely irrational.
Plaintiff’s first argument is that the arbitrator’s award must be vacated because it disregards the negotiated progressive discipline system in the agreement.
Defendant Rite Aid responds that, “The record not only demonstrates that the grievant maintained a poor overall work record during a span of several years but reveals that in addition to the written warning which the grievant received on November 7,1983, she had also received a written warning dated October 7, 1983.” Our review of this latter document
Rite Aid then goes on to argue that even if the “warning” of October 7, 1983 is found to be inadequate, the record is replete with documentation of numerous instances where Ms. Bupp’s various supervisors found it necessary to counsel her for her unsatisfactory work pace. Our review of the exhibits and the arbitrator’s findings compels this Court to agree. Ms. Bupp’s work record is a sorry one at best. Moreover, although the Union argues that her poor production record was the result of physical problems (a shoulder injury and a bladder infection),
While one can only wonder why it took the company until November 7, 1983 to issue the first written warning to Ms.
Before issuing our Order in this dispute, we shall briefly address the second argument advanced by the Union on behalf of Ms. Bupp. That argument states: “The arbitrator’s decision should be vacated because the arbitrator relied upon production quotas which are not to be found in the contract.”
An Order consistent with the determinations reached above follows.
ORDER
AND NOW, this 19th day of November, 1985, IT IS ORDERED as follows:
1. Defendant Rite Aid Corporation’s motion for summary judgment is denied.
2. This case is closed reserving to Plaintiff the right to petition to reopen pending disposition of the arbitrator in Plaintiff’s first grievance.
. Counsel for the Company and the Union have stipulated to the record made before the arbitrator. These stipulations relate to the accuracy of the transcript and the authenticity of the exhibits. See Docket Item 16.
. See Work Rule 23 which prohibits the practice of deliberately restricting production and which provided that an employee engaging in such behavior be given one written reprimand with notice that a second reprimand would result in discharge.
. See Docket Item 11 at page 4.
. Issued on November 7, 1983. See Docket Item 9 at Exhibit "B”.
. See Docket Item 16, Index to Stipulated Exhibits, Company Exhibit 19.
. We, like the arbitrator, attach great significance to the fact that Ms. Bupp would periodically perform her tasks in an exemplary manner. The inference drawn by the arbitrator (that this occasional excellence is indicative that she was “goldbricking" much of the time) is utterly rational.
. See Docket Item 11 at page 6.
. See pages 13 and 14 of the Arbitrator’s Decision (Docket Item 16).
. The record is liberally sprinkled with documentation that Ms. Bupp had an "attitude problem” which was the root cause of her unacceptable level of production. See Docket Item 16 (Company Exhibits 8, 23 and 25 and pages 2, 5 and 56 of the Hearing Transcript).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- TEAMSTERS LOCAL UNION NO. 776 v. RITE AID CORPORATION
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published