MidMichigan Med. Ctr. v. Prof'l Emply. Div.

• Decision Date: 09 June 1999
• Docket Number: PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE,AFL-CI,No. 98-1464,DEFENDANT-APPELLANT,98-1464
• Citation: 183 F.3d 497
• Parties: (6th Cir. 1999) MIDMICHIGAN REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER - CLARE,, v. PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYEES DIVISION OF LOCAL 79, SERVICE EMPLOYEE INTERNATIONAL UNION, Argued:
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 497

183 F.3d 497 (6th Cir. 1999)

MIDMICHIGAN REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER - CLARE, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, v. PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYEES DIVISION OF LOCAL 79, SERVICE EMPLOYEE INTERNATIONAL UNION, AFL-CIO, DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

No. 98-1464

U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit

Argued: June 9, 1999

Decided and Filed: July 12, 1999

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan at Bay City. No. 96-10437--Robert H. Cleland, District Judge.

John R. Runyan (argued and briefed), Sachs, Waldman, O'Hare, Helveston, Bogas & McINTOSH, Detroit, Michigan, for Defendant-Appellant.

Valerie P. Simmons (argued and briefed), Warner, Norcross & Judd, Grand Rapids, Michigan, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Before: Daughtrey and Moore, Circuit Judges; Stafford,^* District Judge.

OPINION

Karen Nelson Moore, Circuit Judge.

The district court set aside an arbitrator's decision ordering the MidMichigan Regional Medical Center at Clare to reinstate Barbara Krantz to her position as a staff nurse. MidMichigan fired Krantz after she had difficulties operating a piece of equipment during an emergency situation. The arbitrator found that Krantz had not committed the error of which she was accused, that her actual error was less serious, and that a six-month suspension rather than dismissal was an appropriate sanction. The district court incorrectly held that this award exceeded the arbitrator's authority and was contrary to public policy. We therefore REVERSE the district court's decision and REMAND this case with instructions to reinstate the arbitrator's award.

I. BACKGROUND

Krantz is a licensed registered nurse ("RN") who held a position as a staff nurse at MidMichigan, a small, acute-care hospital in Clare, Michigan. During her almost ten years of service, she worked in several different departments of the hospital. At the time of the incidents involved in this suit, she was assigned to the Intensive/Progressive Care Unit ("ICU/PCU"), which contains some of the hospital's most critically ill patients. Krantz was represented by the defendant union, and her employment was governed by a collective bargaining agreement ("CBA").

In March 1995, Krantz received a written reprimand for errors with a patient's medication. A doctor had ordered that the patient receive intravenous Dopamine, a drug used to increase cardiac output. On two occasions, Krantz mistakenly added Dobutamine, another drug used for the same purpose, to a premixed Dopamine solution. On the first occasion, a supervisor caught the error after Krantz had begun to administer the solution to the patient. On the second occasion, Krantz and another RN caught the error before administering the medication.

Nine months later, Krantz was the only RN assigned to the ICU/PCU for the 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. shift that began on December 26, 1995. She had primary responsibility for a critically ill cardiac patient who early in the shift had a transvenous pacemaker inserted to assist his heart. Shortly after the pacemaker was inserted, the patient went into cardiac arrest, and a "Code 99" was called. Responding to the code were Krantz; Sanjeeb Goyal, the attending physician; Kenn McJames, a licensed practical nurse ("LPN"); Connie Juneac, another LPN; Kathryn Leaman, a respiratory therapy technician; and Sandy Sabuda, another hospital employee. Krantz took charge of the Zoll Monitor, a device located on the crash cart at the foot of the patient's bed.

A Zoll Monitor works through pads and wires attached to the patient's chest. It can perform three different functions: monitoring the patient's heartbeat, assisting the patient by pacing the heart, and defibrillating the patient in the event of cardiac arrest. The operator of the machine turns a dial to select one of the three functions. If the operator selects defibrillation, she must then set the current level and press the "charge" button. The machine takes six to ten seconds to charge. Then, two conspicuous orange "discharge" buttons must be pressed simultaneously. This action sends an electric current through the patient. Because the current is dangerous to anyone in contact with the patient at the time, the operator must call "clear" before pressing the discharge buttons.

From their positions around the patient, McJames and Juneac saw Krantz attempting to operate the Zoll Monitor. They saw her hand moving up and down near the discharge buttons. Both were concerned that Krantz was trying to defibrillate the patient without calling "clear." Juneac told her not to do it. Krantz responded that she could not get the machine to charge, and Juneac reminded her that she first had to switch from pacer mode to defibrillation mode. Either Goyal or Krantz then did so, and Goyal defibrillated the patient, ending the code. The code had lasted approximately three minutes.

McJames and Juneac reported their observations of Krantz's performance to a supervisor, apparently stating that she had tried to defibrillate the patient without calling "clear." Krantz was suspended while the hospital investigated. On January 2, 1996, she was fired. Her disciplinary notice stated:

"Reasons for This Action:... Gross neglect of duty on December 26, 1995, (exhibited a clear lack of good nursing judgment and lacked the proper knowledge of unit equipment which jeopardized the lives and safety of a patient and fellow employees) and on March 9, 1995."

"Explanation of Facts:... On 12/26/95, you were observed by three (3) ICU nursing staff and one (1) physician, to be pressing the defibrillation discharge buttons during a cardiac arrest, while two (2) employees and one (1) physician were giving rescucitation [sic] efforts thus being in contact with the patient. Had the selector switch been placed on the defib mode rather than the pace mode, these individuals would have received an electrical shock resulting in severe injury or death."

Joint Appendix ("J.A.") at 279 (Disciplinary Action). The phrase "[g]ross neglect of duty on December 26, 1995," appears to be drawn from the hospital's work rules, which state that an employee guilty of "[g]ross neglect of duty" is subject to immediate suspension, investigation, and discharge. J.A. at 313 (Rules). The union grieved Krantz's discharge and eventually took the matter to arbitration.

Krantz, Juneac, McJames, and Leaman testified at the arbitration hearing, as did Robert Briggs, the nurse manager who investigated the incident. The arbitrator found insufficient evidence that Krantz had tried to defibrillate without calling "clear." Rather, the evidence indicated that Krantz attempted to charge the Zoll Monitor without switching it from pacer mode to defibrillation mode. When McJames and Juneac saw her hand moving up and down repeatedly, they were seeing her attempts to charge the monitor. The arbitrator pointed out that because the machine is small, it was understandable that the witnesses might think Krantz was pressing "discharge" instead of "charge." He also noted that to discharge the current Krantz would have had to press two buttons simultaneously, which would normally be done with two hands. Thus, although Krantz negligently failed to switch from pacer mode to defibrillation mode, thereby delaying defibrillation, her mistake was not as serious as the hospital claimed. The arbitrator therefore concluded that Krantz's discharge was not justified under the CBA or the hospital's work rules. However, in light of Krantz's negligence during the code and her medication errors nine months before, the arbitrator felt that a six-month suspension was warranted. In addition, the arbitrator stated:

"While ordering reinstatement of the Grievant to a staff nurse position and classification, your Arbitrator is concerned over the two incidents involving the Grievant in February and March of 1995, and again in December 1995. Under these circumstances, while ordering the Hospital to reinstate the Grievant to the staff nurse classification, it is not ordering the Employer to reinstate the Grievant to the ICU/PCU. This is particularly the case inasmuch as the Grievant has not worked in this unit for ten months while this case was pending."

J.A. at 240-41 (Arb. Decision).

MidMichigan refused to comply with the arbitrator's decision and sought relief from the district court. The court heard testimony from Krantz and from James Hunt, vice president and chief nursing officer at MidMichigan. Hunt's testimony focused on the hospital's inability to place Krantz in a staff nurse position in which she would not have direct responsibility for patient care. Accepting the facts as found by the arbitrator, the district court held that the arbitrator's order violated Michigan's public policy of ensuring the delivery of safe and competent nursing care. In the alternative, the court held that the arbitrator had exceeded his authority under the CBA.

II. ANALYSIS

We review the district court's findings of fact for clear error and its Conclusions of law de novo. See First Options of Chicago, Inc. v. Kaplan, 514 U.S. 938, 947-48 (1995); Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Jaros, 70 F.3d 418, 420 (6th Cir. 1995). Because the CBA makes the arbitrator's decision "final and binding" on both parties, J.A. at 196 (CBA), both we and the district court must defer to the arbitrator's findings of fact and interpretations of the CBA. See United Paperworkers Int'l Union v. Misco, Inc., 484 U.S. 29, 36 (1987) ("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 misinterpretation of the contract."). In this case, MidMichigan has accepted the arbitrator's factual findings but claims that his interpretation of the CBA exceeded his authority and that the award violated public policy. These are questions of law, which we review de novo.

A. INTERPRETATION OF THE CBA

1. The CBA and MidMichigan's Work Rules

The CBA between MidMichigan...