Bowater Carolina Co., a Div. of Bowater, Inc. v. Rock Hill Local Union No. 1924, No. 925
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit) |
| Writing for the Court | Before SPROUSE and CHAPMAN; SPROUSE |
| Citation | 871 F.2d 23 |
| Parties | 130 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3092, 111 Lab.Cas. P 11,061 BOWATER CAROLINA COMPANY, A DIVISION OF BOWATER, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. ROCK HILL LOCAL UNION NO. 1924; Catawba Maintenance Local Union; United Paperworkers International Union,efendants-Appellees. |
| Docket Number | D,No. 88-3879,AFL-CI,No. 925 |
| Decision Date | 04 April 1989 |
Page 23
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
ROCK HILL LOCAL UNION NO. 1924; Catawba Maintenance Local
Union No. 925; United Paperworkers International
Union, AFL-CIO, Defendants-Appellees.
Fourth Circuit.
Decided April 4, 1989.
Page 24
Hamlett Sam Mabry, III, Orville Gilbert Calhoun, Jr. (Haynsworth, Marion, McKay & Guerard, Greenville, S.C., on brief), for plaintiff-appellant.
Jay Joseph Levit, Richmond, Va. (Michael Hamilton, United Paperworkers Intern. Union, Nashville, Tenn., Tony M. Jones, Rock Hill, S.C., on brief), for defendants-appellees.
Before SPROUSE and CHAPMAN, Circuit Judges, and MOTZ, United States District Judge for the District of Maryland, sitting by designation.
SPROUSE, Circuit Judge:
Bowater Carolina Company, a division of Bowater, Inc., appeals from the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment to Rock Hill Local Union No. 1924, Catawba Maintenance Local Union No. 925, and United Paperworkers International Union, AFL-CIO ("the Union") in Bowater's action to vacate a labor arbitration award on the grounds that the award exceeded the scope of the issues submitted to the arbitrator. We reverse.
The underlying arbitration involved John Truesdale, a Bowater millwright and a member of the Union, who suffered an on-the-job injury to his back on August 18, 1986, while working in Bowater's plant in Catawba, South Carolina. After referral to a physician, he was assigned to light duty but then was admitted to a hospital. He returned to work under medical restrictions on November 10, 1986, but again left work on January 2, 1987. Bowater thereafter refused to permit him to return to work, claiming that his physical condition presented an undue risk that he would reinjure himself.
Article VIII of the collective-bargaining agreement between Bowater and the Union outlines a five-step procedure for a resolution of employment grievances--four grievance steps and arbitration. After Bowater refused to permit Truesdale to return to work, the Union submitted a grievance that proceeded through the four steps of grievance without resolution. It was submitted to arbitration. Bowater and the Union jointly framed the arbitration issue: "Did the company violate Article XVIII of the current labor agreement by not allowing Grievant to return to work? If so, what shall the remedy be?"
Article VXIII of the collective-bargaining agreement provides in pertinent part:
An employee who is absent due to nonindustrial sickness and/or injury for twenty-one (21) days or more, or an employee who has been absent because of major surgery, back problems, concussion and the like is expected to provide the Company, at least four (4) days in advance of his/her planned return-to-work date, with a written statement from physician of his/her choice who is licensed to practice medicine. This statement is to be in response to a form letter and partial job description the employee is to obtain from the Industrial Relations Department and furnish to his/her physician. An employee absent less than twenty-one (21) days due to nonindustrial sickness and/or injury is expected to give the Company as much advance notice of their planned return-to-work date as possible, but not less notice than that defined in Article IX--Hours of Work. An
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employee absent seven (7) to twenty-one (21) days due to nonindustrial sickness and/or injury may be required to provide a physician's statement as provided above. The Company will rely upon the statement from the employee's physician, if required, in deciding whether or not to permit a return to work.During the grievance...
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...by federal law, but chose not to appeal the court's dismissal of the wrongful discharge in violation of public policy claims. English, 871 F.2d at 23 n. 1; English, 110 S.Ct. at 2274 n. 4. While this action was on appeal to the United States Supreme Court, the North Carolina Supreme Court f......
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EST LLC v. Smith, 5:08-CV-32
...was "properly" discharged. Id. In a similar case involving arbitrator misconduct, Bowater Carolina Co. v. Rock Hill Local Union No. 1924, 871 F.2d 23, 23-26 (4th Cir. 1989), the Fourth Circuit found that the arbitrator exceeded his authority by awarding an employee reinstatement and back pa......
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RF & P. RAILROAD v. TRANSP. COM. INTERN. UNION, Civ. No. 90-1649-A.
..."the parties, not the arbitrator, must define the issues. The parties' submission is `the source and limit' of the arbitrator's power." 871 F.2d 23, 25 (4th Cir.1989) (quoting International Chem. Workers Union, Local No. 566 v. Mobay Chem. Corp., 755 F.2d 1107 (4th Cir.1985)). Thus, courts ......
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English v. General Elec. Co., No. 87-31-CIV-7.
...by federal law, but chose not to appeal the court's dismissal of the wrongful discharge in violation of public policy claims. English, 871 F.2d at 23 n. 1; English, 110 S.Ct. at 2274 n. 4. While this action was on appeal to the United States Supreme Court, the North Carolina Supreme Court f......
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Madison Hotel v. Hotel and Restaurant Employees, Local 25, AFL-CIO, AFL-CI
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