Mountaineer Gas Co. v. Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers Intern. Union

• Citation: 76 F.3d 606
• Decision Date: 26 February 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95-1724,95-1724
• Parties: 151 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2600, 64 USLW 2596, 131 Lab.Cas. P 11,508 MOUNTAINEER GAS COMPANY, a corporation, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. OIL, CHEMICAL & ATOMIC WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION; Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union, Local 3-372; Donald R. Watson, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit)

Page 606

76 F.3d 606

151 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2600, 64 USLW 2596,

131 Lab.Cas. P 11,508

MOUNTAINEER GAS COMPANY, a corporation, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. OIL, CHEMICAL & ATOMIC WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION; Oil Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union Local 3-372; Donald R. Watson Defendants-Appellants.

No. 95-1724.

United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.

Argued Oct. 31, 1995.

Decided Feb. 26, 1996.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, at Charleston. John T. Copenhaver, Jr., District Judge. (CA-93-862-2)

ARGUED: John Francis Dascoli, Segal & Davis, L.C., Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellants. Joseph M. Price, Robinson & McElwee, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Robin J. Davis, Segal & Davis, L.C., Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellants.

Before RUSSELL, WILKINS, and LUTTIG, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge RUSSELL wrote the opinion, in which Judge WILKINS and Judge LUTTIG joined.

OPINION

DONALD RUSSELL, Circuit Judge:

This case comes before this court as union member Donald Watson and the Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union, Local 3-372 challenge the district court's grant of summary judgment to Mountaineer Gas Company. The district court refused to enforce an arbitration award, which had been awarded to Watson, reasoning that the arbitrator's award failed to draw its essence from the collective bargaining agreement between Mountaineer Gas Company and the Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union. Although we hesitate, for the integrity of the arbitration process, to condone the vacating of an arbitration award, we are compelled to do so in this instance because the arbitrator created an award that exceeded his powers and failed to draw its essence from the collective bargaining agreement.

I.

On August 27, 1991, Mountaineer Gas Company ("Mountaineer"), a public utility engaged in the transportation and supply of natural gas in West Virginia, terminated the employment of Donald R. Watson, a meter repairman in the operations department, after he failed to pass a random drug test. Challenging his discharge, Watson initiated a grievance against Mountaineer. Pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement ("the CBA") between Mountaineer and the Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union, Local 3-372 ("the Union"), Watson's grievance proceeded to arbitration.

In August 1993, the arbitrator reinstated Watson without back pay and converted Watson's permanent discharge into a disciplinary suspension. On September 10, 1993, Mountaineer filed a complaint in district court seeking to vacate the award. Mountaineer alleged that the award contravened public policy and failed to draw its essence from the CBA between the Union and Mountaineer. The district court granted Mountaineer's motion for summary judgement and vacated the award on the ground that it did not draw its essence from the CBA.

II.

The Union contends that the district court lacked the requisite authority to overrule the arbitrator's award, because the judiciary is to presumptively favor the award's validity. See Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac R.R. Co. v. Transportation Communications Int'l Union, 973 F.2d 276, 278 (4th Cir.1992). In labor arbitration cases, it is recognized that a reviewing court generally defers to the arbitrator's reasoning. Island Creek Coal Co. v. District 28, United Mine Workers of America, 29 F.3d 126, 129 (4th Cir.1994). And, absent any fraud by the parties or dishonesty by the arbitrator, an arbitrator's findings should never be overturned. United Paperworkers Int'l Union v. Misco, Inc., 484 U.S. 29, 38, 108 S.Ct. 364, 370-71, 98 L.Ed.2d 286 (1987). After all, the parties to a collective bargaining agreement bargained for the arbitrator's interpretation and resolution of their dispute. United Steelworkers v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corporation., 363 U.S. 593, 599, 80 S.Ct. 1358, 1362, 4 L.Ed.2d 1424 (1960). Yet, we acknowledge that arbitration awards may be overturned if the award violates well-settled and prevailing public policy, fails to draw its essence from the collective bargaining agreement or reflects the arbitrator's own notions of right and wrong. Misco, 484 U.S. at 36, 42, 108 S.Ct. at 369, 373.

To determine whether any of these conditions existed we must examine the business Mountaineer is engaged in, the regulations it must abide by, its own operating procedures and policies, the parties to the collective bargaining agreement, and the arbitration award. Above all, we must determine only whether the arbitrator did his job--not whether he did it well, correctly, or reasonably, but simply whether he did it. Remmey v. PaineWebber, Inc., 32 F.3d 143, 146 (4th Cir.1994), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 903, 130 L.Ed.2d 786 (1995). Because the question of whether a labor arbitrator exceeded the scope of his authority is a question of law, this court reviews the district court's ruling de novo. Island Creek Coal Co., 29 F.3d at 129.

When determining whether the arbitrator did his job, this court examines: (1) the arbitrator's role as defined by the CBA; (2) whether the award ignored the plain language of the CBA; and (3) whether the arbitrator's discretion in formulating the award comported with the essence of the CBA's proscribed limits. As summarized by the Supreme Court:

[A]n arbitrator is confined to interpretation and application of the collective bargaining agreement; he does not sit to dispense his own brand of industrial justice. He may of course look for guidance from many sources, yet his award is legitimate only so long as it draws its essence from the collective bargaining agreement. When the arbitrator's words manifest an infidelity to this obligation, courts have no choice but to refuse enforcement of the award.

United Steelworkers of America v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593, 597, 80 S.Ct. 1358, 1361, 4 L.Ed.2d 1424 (1960).

A.

The CBA to which Mountaineer, the Union, and Watson are parties reserved to Mountaineer the following rights:

It is agreed that there shall be no hindrance or interference with the Management of the Company in its several departments, including the determination of Company policy, which does not interfere with the conditions of the Agreement as affecting wages, hours of work, and working conditions. All rights of Management, except insofar as the same are expressly modified in the terms of this Agreement, are hereby reserved to the Company, and the Company specifically has the power and the right to manage the business and direct the working forces, including but not limited to, the right to hire, suspend or discharge for proper cause....

The CBA also contained an arbitration provision which stated that the arbitrator shall limit his decision to the issue submitted by the parties and "shall have no authority to amend, add to, or subtract from this Agreement."

Because Mountaineer is a public utility, it is required by various state and federal laws not only to assure the safe operation of its pipelines and equipment, but to assure a drug free workplace. In particular, Mountaineer must abide by the 1988 Drug Free Work Place Act, 41 U.S.C. §§ 701-707, and the Department of Transportation Pipelines Regulations, 49 C.F.R. § 40 and Pt. 199, which require that certain pipeline facility operators test employees for the presence of prohibited drugs and provide an employee substance abuse assistance program.

In response to the federal and state mandates, Mountaineer instituted an alcohol and drug abuse policy (hereafter"the Drug Policy") in April 1990, which became effective in February 1991. Mountaineer's Policy committed the company to:

[A]n alcohol and drug abuse program that emphasizes three elements: eradication of any alcohol or drug use which may imperil employees' or the public's well-being or safety; assistance and support for employees...