Gits Mfg. Co., L.L.C. v. Local 281 Intern. Union
| Decision Date | 07 May 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 4:02-CV-40243.,4:02-CV-40243. |
| Citation | 261 F.Supp.2d 1089 |
| Parties | GITS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, L.L.C., Plaintiff, v. LOCAL 281 INTERNATIONAL UNION, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, and Its Affiliated Local Union Number 1946, and Sheila Mickey, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Iowa |
Gene R. Lasuer, Davis Brown Koehn Shors & Roberts PC, Des Moines, IA, for Plaintiff.
Mark T. Hedberg, Hedberg Owens & Hedberg, Des Moines, IA, for Defendants.
RULING ON CROSS-MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
Before the Court are cross-motions for summary judgment filed by the parties. This matter came on for hearing on February 28, 2003, with Gene R. LaSuer appearing on behalf of GITS Manufacturing Company, L.L.C. ("GITS"), and Mark T. Hedberg appearing on behalf of Local 281 International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, and its affiliated Local Union Number 1946 ("the Union"), and Defendant Sheila Mickey ("Mickey"). For the reasons discussed herein, the Union's Motion for Summary Judgment (Clerk's No. 15) is GRANTED, and the GITS Motion for Summary Judgment (Clerk's No. 7) is DENIED.
GITS is an automotive sub-assembler in Creston, Iowa. The Union represents the employees of GITS. Mickey was an employee with GITS, working in a variety of capacities at GITS since beginning in 1989, and was employed as an assembler in May of 2001. On occasion, Mickey's job required her to go to the receiving area of the plant. According to the supervisor of the receiving area when Mickey was there, Mickey often complained that "management" workers were doing the work of bargaining unit members.1
Early in the afternoon of May 8, 2001, while in the stockroom, Mickey saw three individuals and asked what they were doing. She then accused them of "not working". The three people were Rick Hanson (a union member), Doug Graham (Manufacturing Manager for GITS), and Robert Smallwood (another union member). At the time, Robert Smallwood ("Smallwood") was the only African-American in the entire GITS workforce. Later that same day, Mickey again returned to the stockroom prompting Smallwood to approach. Smallwood asked why Mickey was "trying to get [him] in trouble in front of [his] boss." The argument between them escalated, during which time Mickey used several so-called "F-words". Mickey left the stockroom and shortly thereafter "clocked out" of work. While doing so, Mickey was overheard saying in reference to Smallwood, "he's nothing but a `fucking nigger.'"
Although Mickey was apparently talking to herself, an investigation on the part of GITS indicated that at least four employees near the time clock heard her comment. One employee, Tara Hanson, was so angered by what Mickey said, she called Mickey "white trash". Mickey responded by explaining that Ms. Hanson could "kiss [her] ass." It is undisputed that Smallwood did not hear Mickey's comment.
Mickey was eventually discharged in response this incident, an action the Union grieved and ultimately arbitrated. On February 26, 2002, arbitrator Gerald Cohen ("the Arbitrator") entered an order returning Mickey to work, minus six months back pay. It is this arbitration award that is the basis of the dispute in this case.
GITS asserts there can be no question that Smallwood found the environment at GITS to be both hostile and abusive, and that a reasonable person would find the environment created by Mickey's comment both hostile and abusive. GITS argues that the arbitration decision, and GITS by honoring the award, would further perpetuate the hostile environment Smallwood subjectively perceived and reasonable people (such as Ms. Hanson) objectively recognized. Honoring the arbitration decision, it is claimed, violates the public policy of an employer maintaining voluntarily compliance with Title VII. GITS, therefore, asks this Court to declare that GITS is not required to honor the arbitration award.
In resistance, the Union maintains the Arbitrator has not exceeded his authority by creating a remedy which reinstates Mickey, and, in any case, there is a very limited role a court can take in reviewing the decision of an arbitrator. The Union observes that Mickey was terminated for uttering a racial slur to herself which was overheard by her co-workers, not by the person the comment was directed (by implication) toward. Thus, the Union asserts that no evidence exists that shows that a member of an affected racial group was aware of Mickey's comment, let alone subjectively harmed by that comment. The target of Mickey's comment, Smallwood, did not hear the comment or suffer the sting from the impact of the words. In effect, the Union offers, there can be no victim in this case. For these reasons, the Union posits that honoring the arbitration award would not violate public policy, and GITS should be ordered to honor the arbitration award.
Both parties recognize the narrow scope of judicial review of arbitration awards under collective bargaining agreements. See Int'l Woodworkers of America v. Weyerhaeuser, 7 F.3d 133, 135 (8th Cir. 1993). "Federal law, and in particular the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, 29 U.S.C. § 173(d), `reflects] a decided preference for private settlement of labor disputes without the intervention of government.' " See MidAmerican Energy Co. v. Int'l Bhd. of Elec. Workers Local 499, 228 F.Supp.2d 949, 955 (S.D.Iowa 2002) (quoting United Paperworkers Int'l Union v. Misco, Inc., 484 U.S. 29, 36, 108 S.Ct. 364, 98 L.Ed.2d 286 (1987)). The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has summarized this limited review as follows:
[T]he courts play only a limited role when asked to review the decision of an arbitrator. The courts are not authorized to reconsider the merits of an award even though the parties may allege that the award rests on errors of fact or on misinterpretations of the contract... [a]s long as the arbitrator's award "draws its essence from the collective bargaining agreement," and is not merely "[the arbitrator's] own brand of industrial justice," the award is legitimate.... Courts thus do not sit to hear claims of factual or legal error by an arbitrator as an appellate court does in reviewing decisions of lower courts. To resolve disputes about the application of a collective bargaining agreement, an arbitrator must find facts and a court may not reject those findings simply because it disagrees with them. The same is true of the arbitrator's interpretation of the contract. The arbitrator may not ignore the plain language of the contract; but the parties having authorized the arbitrator to give meaning to the language of the Agreement, a court should not reject an award on the ground that the arbitrator misread the contract.
See UFCW Local No. 88 v. Shop `N Save Warehouse Foods. Inc., 113 F.3d 893, 894-95 (8th Cir.1997) (citing Misco, 484 U.S. at 36, 38, 108 S.Ct. 364) (which quotes and cites United Steelworkers of America v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593, 597, 599, 80 S.Ct. 1358, 4 L.Ed.2d 1424 (1960)).
Both at oral argument and in its moving papers, GITS has argued that the Arbitrator has exceeded his authority in ordering Mickey's reinstatement. GITS characterizes the Arbitrator's decision as his own sense of "industrial justice" rather than a response to legal precedent under Title VII. However, "unless it can be said with positive assurance that the contract is not susceptible of the Arbitrator's interpretation," a reviewing court may not interfere with an arbitrator's award. See UFCW Local No. 88, 113 F.3d at 895 (citing Kewanee Mach. Div., Chromalloy American Corp. v. Local Union No. 21, Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, 593 F.2d 314, 318 (8th Cir.1979)) (quoting Int'l Bhd. of Elec. Workers v. Prof I Hole Drilling, Inc., 574 F.2d 497, 503 (10th Cir. 1978)). If "`the arbitrator is even arguably construing or applying the contract and acting within the scope of [their] authority, that a court is convinced [the arbitrator] committed serious error does not suffice to overturn the decision.'" Id. (quoting John Morrell & Co. v. Local Union 304A of the United Food & Commercial Workers, 913 F.2d 544, 559 (8th Cir. 1990) (quoting Misco, 484 U.S. at 38, 108 S.Ct. 364)). "In determining whether an arbitrator has exceeded his authority, the agreement must be broadly construed with all doubts being resolved in favor of the arbitrator's authority." Id.
The collective bargaining agreement at issue contains provisions for nondiscrimination, discipline, grievance, and ultimate arbitration. The termination of Mickey's employment traveled through that grievance process and arbitration. The Court finds the arbitration decision to be consistent with the authority granted under the collective bargaining agreement to review employee discipline arising out of the non-discrimination standard.
In this case, the remedy the Arbitrator ordered is drawn from the collective bargaining agreement GITS and the Union entered. The Arbitrator considered language in the collective bargaining agreement regarding discrimination as it related to Mickey's conduct. The Arbitrator found this case less serious than it could have been since discrimination requires a perpetrator and a victim, which scenario does not exist here. The Arbitrator believed Mickey's words were less stinging since they were not uttered in Smallwood's presence.
The Arbitrator then considered Mickey's twelve years of employment with GITS, during which time Mickey had never received a reprimand of any kind. The Court is satisfied that the Arbitrator was construing or applying the collective bargaining agreement. There is no basis upon which to effectively dispute that the essence of the arbitration award came from the collective bargaining agreement....
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...excusable.’ ” 35 [164 Wash.App. 319] ¶ 20 The Union cites two cases, Way Bakery v. Truck Drivers Local No. 16436 and Gits Manufacturing Co. v. Local 281 International Union,37 where courts upheld arbitration awards reinstating employees who had engaged in discriminatory conduct. The arbitra......