| Free Trial / Sign Up | Products / Prices / Samples | About Us / Contact | FAQs | Home |
|
Latest employment law cases Summaries and links to full text |
|
Emailed directly to you and online all the time |
| Latest Cases | Advanced Search | Law Firm Directory | Arbitrator Directory | Law School Directory | Legal Resources / Memos |
| Employment Law Memo |
| Arbitration Law Memo |
| NLRB Law Memo |
| Employment Law Blog |
| Arbitration Law Blog |
| Employment Law 101 |
| Articles |
| Supreme Court Cases |
| EEOC Info |
| NLRB Info |
|
United States Supreme Court Employment Law Cases All pending employment law cases - click here |
Union Pacific Railroad Company v. Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers and Trainmen General Committee of Adjustment, Central Region (08-604)
Can courts set aside final arbitration awards by National Railroad
Adjustment Board for alleged violations of due process?
|
Five employees of the Union Pacific Railroad filed
claims through their Union (the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and
Trainmen) contesting a discharge or discipline imposed by the Railroad. Rather
than resolving the dispute over the propriety of the discipline, the National
Railroad Adjustment Board concluded that the Union had failed to submit
conclusive evidence that the parties had held a conference to attempt to resolve
the dispute - a procedural prerequisite to arbitration - and thus the Board
determined that it was required to dismiss the claim for lack of jurisdiction.
The district court agreed. The 7th Circuit reversed.
Although the 7th Circuit agreed with the
district court that it has always been clear that the parties must conference,
and that they must submit evidence of that fact, it heretofore has not been
clear when and how that evidence must be presented. The court found that the
Board denied the Union due process by requiring evidence of conferencing to be
presented in the on-property record, a requirement not clearly enunciated in the
statutes, regulations, or the collective bargaining agreement of the parties.
Consequently, the 7th Circuit reversed. The US Supreme Court granted certiorari
to review the 7th Circuit judgment.
Case below: Brotherhood
of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen General Committee of Adjustment, Central
Region v. Union Pacific Railroad Company
(7th Cir 04/09/2008); rehearing denied, Brotherhood
of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen General Committee of Adjustment, Central
Region v. Union Pacific Railroad Company
(7th Cir 08/11/2008)
Question presented:
The Railway Labor Act ("RLA"),
45 U.S.C. §§151 et seq., sets forth a comprehensive framework to
resolve labor disputes in the railroad industry through binding arbitration
before the National Railroad Adjustment Board ("the Board"). The
statute provides that the Board’s judgment "shall be conclusive ...
except ... for": (1) "failure ... to comply" with the Act, (2)
"failure... to conform or confine" its order "to matters within
... the [Board’s] jurisdiction," and (3) "fraud or corruption"
by a Board member. 45 U.S.C. §153 First (q). This case involves the Board’s
denial of employee grievance claims for failure to comply with its rules
governing proof that the dispute had been submitted to a "conference"
between the parties. 45 U.S.C. §152 Second. The Seventh Circuit held that the
award must be set aside because the Board violated due process through
retroactive recognition of a supposedly "new rule." The questions
presented are: 1. Whether the Seventh Circuit
erroneously held, in square conflict with decisions of the Third, Sixth, Tenth,
and Eleventh Circuits, that the RLA includes a fourth, implied exception that
authorizes courts to set aside final arbitration awards for alleged violations
of due process. 2. Whether the Seventh Circuit
erroneously held that the Board adopted a "new," retroactive
interpretation of the standards governing its proceedings in violation of due
process. Certiorari Documents:
Briefs on the merits:
Counsel:
|
EEOC | NLRB | Supreme Court | Employment Law Blog | Arbitration Blog | Employment Law 101