By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//August 12, 2014//
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
Civil
Labor — arbitration
An employee’s termination is subject to arbitration, even if prior decisions resulting in termination are not.
“In summary, the Union’s grievance falls within the scope of the arbitration clause on its face. As a result, we must compel arbitration ‘unless it may be said with positive assurance that the arbitration clause is not susceptible of an interpretation that covers the asserted dispute.’ United Steel, 531 F.3d at 535. We cannot say so with positive assurance in this case, either on the basis of explicit exclusion, forceful evidence of intent, or any of the other possibilities offered by NextEra. This grievance must be sent to arbitration. There, NextEra may raise many of the same defenses it used in this lawsuit, including its theory that the arbitrator may not review or overturn the unescorted access revocation undergirding Hofstra’s discharge. It is not for us to determine how successful those arguments will prove to be on the merits, but we can say with certainty that they do nothing to defeat the plain language of the White Book within the context of this case.”
Reversed.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Clevert, J., Kanne, J.