Case: Labor Arbitration/Insubordination (Arb.)

Arbitrator Michael Paolucci held that Jackson WWS, Inc. didn’t have just cause to discharge the grievant for insubordination when she purportedly refused to follow her supervisor’s instructions to final test a priority “hot” unit for delivery and to wire another machine. Arbitrator Paolucci found that the company failed to prove just cause for multiple reasons, particularly that the grievant’s conduct of having an extended personal conversation with a co-worker on company time is best described as loafing, a less serious issue. The arbitrator concluded the grievant hadn’t engaged in insubordination because she didn’t willfully ignore the work order, and it ...