Arbitrator’s Reinstatement of Worker With Knife Upheld on Appeal

A Chicago hotel operator must comply with an arbitrator’s decision and rehire an employee it fired for displaying a knife and making a coworker feel threatened, the Seventh Circuit affirmed.

The ruling adds to a line of US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit precedent over employers’ attempted use of public policy to defeat arbitration awards.

Here, the Seventh Circuit rejected Magnificent Mile Hotel Management LLC’s arguments that it could ignore the arbitrator’s award because Illinois public policy “condemns violence in the workplace.”

The arbitrator found no violence in the events leading to the termination, and a court won’t ...