NCJ Number
95967
Journal
Labor Law Journal Volume: 35 Issue: 3 Dated: (March 1984) Pages: 175-181
Date Published
1984
Length
7 pages
Annotation
To examine the lawfulness of arbitrated discrimination awards, 30 decision rules used by labor arbitrators for making awards were selected and applied by three experts to 37 cases.
Abstract
These rules are representative of a wider range of relevant evaluation principles used by arbitrators for deciding nearly all grievances reaching arbitration. The rules were randomly placed in a structured questionnaire format. The questionnaire was pretested, refined, and an explanatory definition of each rule as well as procedural instructions for completion were included. Assessment data supplied by three expert judges were collected on four occasions. Statistical support exists for the contention that labor arbitrators reach conclusions in discrimination complaints based largely on interpretative decision rules traditionally used to decide issues such as seniority, discharge, and promotion. The cases also indicate that some arbitral decision rules are applied more often than others but that arbitrators do not have a single predictable rule or set of rules for deciding discrimination grievances. Almost all arbitration awards comply with the four relevant factors identified in the 'Gardner-Denver' Supreme Court decision: the majority of awards reviewed included references to antidiscrimination provisions in the applicable labor contract; the evidence in the awards suggests a more than adequate degree of procedural fairness; discrimination was discussed in every reward reviewed; and the results of an overwhelming majority of awards reviewed in this study were judged in compliance with Title VII, documenting the competence of particular arbitrators to determine discrimination questions. It is appropriate that many discrimination complaints are being decided by labor arbitrators. Fifty-two footnotes are provided.