Union Worker’s Arbitration Award Tossed on Procedural Grounds

The reinstatement of a fired union employee was vacated by the Fourth Circuit Thursday because the arbitrator didn’t follow the procedures set out in the governing collective bargaining agreement.

The CBA between United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union and Advantage Veterans Services of Walterboro LLC, required AVSW to have a reasonable basis for any firing, Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr. said for the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

AVSW fired union representative Sarah Black for harassment and falsifying records, Quattlebaum said. But the arbitrator made her decision based ...