Labor arbitrations often seem like the proverbial “box of chocolates” – you never know what you’re going to get. While uncertainty abounds, there are numerous steps companies and counsel can take to assess, prepare, and...more
In any FLSA lawsuit involving unionized workers, the defense lawyer must always look for a preemption defense. That means that the lawsuit is not properly before a Judge because it involves union contract interpretation, the...more
In Corporation of the City of Calgary v Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 583, 2023 CanLII 20867 (AB GAA), Arbitrator James T. Casey dismissed the union’s grievance of an employee’s job termination, finding that his off-duty...more
Sometimes employers believe they have all the evidence they need to discipline or terminate an employee, even without having talked to the employee and hearing the employee’s side. Why waste time talking to the employee when...more
On April 27, 2022, in Canada Post Corporation v. Canadian Union of Postal Workers (Canada Post), Arbitrator Thomas Joliffe, Q.C. dismissed a union grievance disputing that the unilateral imposition of a mandatory vaccination...more
Executive Summary: It is quite rare when a three-judge panel on a court of appeals overrules prior precedent. Yet, that is exactly what happened on March 30, 2022, in Pittsburgh Mailers Union Local 22 v. PG Publishing Co....more
On April 4, 2022, in Fraser Health Authority v British Columbia General Employees’ Union, 2022 CanLII 25560, Arbitrator Koml Kandola of the British Columbia Labour Relations Board dismissed the union’s grievance respecting...more
Since we last wrote on the topic of COVID-19 vaccination policies, another vaccination policy was upheld at arbitration, this time, requiring employees to receive a third “booster” shot against COVID-19. ...more
In Bunge Hamilton Canada, Hamilton, Ontario v. United Food and Commercial Workers Canada, Local 175, the arbitrator found that a mandatory vaccination policy requiring unvaccinated unionized employees to be placed on unpaid...more
In Bunge Hamilton Canada, Hamilton, Ontario v. United Food and Commercial Workers Canada, Local 175 (Bunge), Arbitrator Robert J. Herman dismissed a union grievance challenging the employer’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination...more
On November 19, 2021, in Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 113 v. Toronto Transit Commission and National Organized Workers Union v. Sinai Health System, 2021 ONSC 7658 (TTC/Sinai Decision), the Ontario Superior Court...more
The Sixth Circuit, in a split decision, held that a dispute between a union and an employer regarding retiree healthcare benefits was not arbitrable because the issue of retiree healthcare benefits was not encompassed within...more
On March 10, 2021, the Florida Third District Court of Appeal made a rare finding against arbitrability where an arbitration clause was present in a contract. Such a finding reminds contractors, vendors, and consumer service...more
On July 29, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (the “Second Circuit”) handed down what amounts to a significant win for the collectively-bargained dispute-resolution process set forth in the...more
The National Labor Relations Board recently overturned a decision issued in 2014 and returned to its time-honored standard for post-arbitral deferral in unfair labor practice cases alleging discipline or discharge in...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) delivered two New Year’s gifts to employers regarding deferral to arbitration and restrictions on union buttons....more
The Trump National Labor Relations Board (Board or NLRB) gifted employers a significant win on the eve of the Christmas holiday with its December 23 decision in United Parcel Service, Inc., 369 NLRB No. 1 (UPS), which...more
In yet another end-of-2019 decision overruling significant NLRA precedent, the Board reverted to the less stringent Spielberg / Olin standard for determining whether to defer to arbitration decisions in the context of Section...more
Overruling 2014 precedent, see Babcock & Wilcox Construction, 361 NLRB 1127 (2014), the National Labor Relations Board (Board), last week in UPS, Inc. 369 NLRB No. 1 (Dec. 23, 2019), returned to the standard that applied from...more
On December 23, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB, or the Board) overturned an Obama-era decision regarding deference to labor arbitration proceedings....more
On July 2, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit handed a significant victory to New York’s home care industry. In Abdullayeva v. Attending Home Care Services, the appellate court reversed a lower court’s...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On Friday, December 1, 2017, newly appointed NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb issued a memorandum containing a broad overview of his initial agenda as General Counsel. It previews many anticipated...more
It is mid-November, and the Board is at a full complement, and even has a new General Counsel. While we haven’t seen anything significant (or really, anything at all) come out of the newly constituted Board we know the new...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The New Jersey Appellate Division reinstated plaintiff’s state law discrimination and retaliation claims, finding the claims were not pre-empted by Section 301 of the LMRA....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Court of Appeal has held that unless a collective bargaining agreement includes an explicitly stated, clear and unmistakable, intent to waive the right to a judicial forum for statutory causes of...more