Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America AFL-CIO, Local Union 540 v. Great Western Food Co.

• Decision Date: 01 August 1983
• Docket Number: LOCAL,AFL-CI,No. 82-1207,82-1207
• Citation: 712 F.2d 122
• Parties: 114 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2001, 98 Lab.Cas. P 10,381 AMALGAMATED MEAT CUTTERS AND BUTCHER WORKMEN OF NORTH AMERICAUNION 540, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. GREAT WESTERN FOOD COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 122

712 F.2d 122

114 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2001, 98 Lab.Cas. P 10,381

AMALGAMATED MEAT CUTTERS AND BUTCHER WORKMEN OF NORTH AMERICA AFL-CIO, LOCAL UNION 540, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. GREAT WESTERN FOOD COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 82-1207.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

Aug. 1, 1983.

Dennis M. Conrad, J. Shelby Sharpe, Fort Worth, Tex., for defendant-appellant.

Mullinax, Wells, Mauzy & Baab, Inc., G. William Baab, Dallas, Tex., for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Before CLARK, Chief Judge, GOLDBERG and POLITZ, Circuit Judges.

CLARK, Chief Judge:

Great Western Food Company discharged its employee, Joe C. Borden, after he wrecked the company's tractor-trailer rig. Borden contended that Great Western lacked the necessary just cause to discharge him. Pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement between Great Western and Borden's union, Amalgamated Meat Cutters, Local 540, the matter was submitted to binding arbitration. The arbitrator ordered that Borden be reinstated. When Great Western refused to comply with the award, the union sought enforcement in district court. The court enforced the award and granted the union reasonable attorneys' fees. Great Western appeals. We conclude that enforcement of the award would violate public policy. Accordingly, we reverse.

This court will not review the factual findings or merit determinations made in an arbitration award. Hines v. Anchor Motor Freight, Inc., 424 U.S. 554, 563, 96 S.Ct. 1048, 1055, 47 L.Ed.2d 231 (1976); Bakery Workers, Local No. 370 v. Cotton Bros. Baking Co., 672 F.2d 562, 564 (5th Cir.1982). Therefore, the following factual statement is based exclusively on the arbitrator's written findings.

Borden was dispatched from Great Western's terminal in Fort Worth, Texas, for a trip to California. In route, the eighteen-wheel rig he was driving overturned. The Arizona Highway Patrol officer who arrived on the scene noted a strong smell of liquor on Borden's breath. The officer cited Borden for "drinking intoxicating liquor while on duty or within 4 hours prior" and for travelling at a "speed greater than reasonable and prudent." Borden admitted to the officer that he had taken a drink at his last preceding rest stop.

Despite these findings, the arbitrator ordered Great Western to reinstate Borden with full seniority. He did so because Great Western had failed to thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident. Specifically Great Western failed to disprove Borden's claim that a steering mechanism failure had caused the accident. The arbitrator, however, refused to award Borden any back pay. He wrote:

Grievant admitted drinking intoxicating liquor shortly before the accident, and was apparently dividing his attention between his CB radio and driving. He is in a rugged business, demanding physical and mental toughness. He must stop drinking while on duty and must use his CB very sparingly, while sitting in an alert position. Otherwise his reinstatement will not last long.

Arbitration is generally favored as a matter of federal labor policy. United Steelworkers v. American Mfg. Co., 363 U.S. 564, 80 S.Ct. 1343, 4 L.Ed.2d 1403 (1960); United Steelworkers of America v. Warrior & Gulf Nav. Co., 363 U.S. 574, 80 S.Ct. 1347, 4 L.Ed.2d 1409 (1960); United Steelworkers of America v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593, 80 S.Ct. 1358, 4 L.Ed.2d 1424 (1960). "The validity of arbitration decisions depends on the willingness of courts to enforce the arbitrator's award without reopening issues resolved by him." Rios v. Reynolds Metals Company, 467 F.2d 54, 57 (5th Cir.1972). Therefore, our review of arbitration awards is quite limited. Enforcement of an arbitration award should be denied only if the dispute was not "arguably arbitrable," International Association of Machinists v. Texas Steel, 639 F.2d 279, 281 (5th Cir.1981), if the arbitral decision did not draw its essence from the collective bargaining agreement, W.R. Grace & Co. v. Local 759, International Union of Rubber Workers, --- U.S. ----, ----, 103 S.Ct. 2177, 2182, 76 L.Ed.2d 298 (U.S.1983) (quoting Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. at 597, 80 S.Ct. at 1361), or if enforcement of the award by the court would violate public policy, Sea-Land Service, Inc. v. International Longshoremen's Association of New York, 625 F.2d 38, 42 (5th Cir.1980); Johns-Manville Sales v. International Association of Machinists, Local 1609, 621 F.2d 756, 757 (5th Cir.1980); General Warehouseman & Helpers v. Standard Brands, Inc., 579 F.2d 1282, 1292 n. 8 (5th Cir.) (en banc). Accord International Association of Machinists, District No. 8 v. Campbell Soup Company, 406 F.2d 1223, 1225 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 820, 90 S.Ct. 57, 24 L.Ed.2d 70 (1969); Local 453, International Union of Electrical Workers v. Otis Elevator Co., 314 F.2d 25, 29 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 373 U.S. 949, 83 S.Ct. 1680, 10 L.Ed.2d 705 (1963). Cf. W.R. Grace & Co., --- U.S. at ----, 103 S.Ct. at 2183 (a court may not enforce a collective bargaining agreement that is contrary to public policy). A court should exercise extreme caution before declaring that an arbitral award violates public policy. See R. Gorman, Basic Text on Labor Law 593-98 (1976). Cf. W.R. Grace & Co., --- U.S. at ----, 103 S.Ct. at 2183 (public policy necessary to prevent enforcement of a collective bargaining agreement must be "well defined and dominant, and is to be ascertained 'by reference to the laws and legal precedents and not from general considerations of supposed public interests.' Muschany v. United States, 324 U.S. 49, 66, 65 S.Ct. 442, 451, 89 L.Ed. 744 (1945).").

In a nation where motorists practically live on the highways, no citation of authority is required to establish that an arbitration award ordering a company to reinstate an over-the-road truck driver caught drinking liquor on duty violates public policy. Alcohol impairs a person's coordination, and inhibits his ability to reason rationally. Ingestion of alcohol slows the reflexes. It induces drowsiness. It slows response time to external stimuli. It dulls the senses. In recognition of alcohol's undisputedly debilitating characteristics, every state in the union prohibits driving while under its influence. A driver who imbibes the spirits endangers not only his own life, but the health and safety of all other drivers. These considerations are convincing enough with respect to drivers of automobiles. They become even more compelling when the driver is regularly employed to course the highways in a massive tractor-trailer rig.

The public policy against allowing a professional driver to continue his driving duties after having been caught drinking on the job is also evidenced in the caselaw. In National Labor Relations Board v. Dixie Motor Coach Corp., 128 F.2d 201 (5th Cir.1942), a bus driver-employee was discharged for drinking on the job. Despite the employee's claim that he was discharged because of his union activities, we held that the reinstatement of such an employee to his former position would be contrary to the public welfare and to the purposes of the National Labor Relations Act. Id. at 203. We stated: "The public interest, as well as that of the employer, requires of any one entrusted with the lives and safety of...