Pilots’ Union Contract Forces Arbitrating Vaccine Mandate Claims

Five cargo airline pilots can’t continue with their federal discrimination lawsuit over their former employer’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate after a federal appeals panel said Tuesday that their collective bargaining agreement requires them to arbitrate the issues.

The Railway Labor Act and defendant Kalitta Air LLC‘s CBA with the Air Line Pilots Association International govern the former employees disputes, a three-judge panel with the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said in a unanimous opinion. Because the pilots’ dispute is rooted in existing elements of the CBA, the dispute is deemed “minor” and is subject to mandatory ...