Collective Bargaining Agreement

Listen to this article

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen v. Union Pacific Railroad Company

Case No.: 17-1897

Officials: EASTERBROOK, KANNE, and SYKES, Circuit Judges

Focus: Collective Bargaining Agreement

Union Pacific Railroad Company hired Richard Griff in the mid-1980s. Griff was promoted from locomotive engineer to management over the next several years, only to be fired in 2013 when the railroad discovered that he had falsified safety and training documentation. Griff objected to his termination on procedural grounds, arguing that he was entitled to a hearing under a collective-bargaining agreement between Union Pacific and his union, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. The railroad responded that the agreement did not provide a hearing for supervisory employees like Griff.

The Brotherhood submitted Griff’s grievance to the National Railroad Adjustment Board, see 45 U.S.C. § 153 First (i), and the Board denied the claim. It explained that it had already resolved similar disputes between the parties and that nothing in the specific collective-bargaining agreement required a different outcome. Like Union Pacific, the Board concluded that Griff was not entitled to a pretermination hearing because he was a supervisory employee.

Undeterred, the Brotherhood appealed the Board’s decision to the federal district court. See id. § 153 First (q). Challenging an arbitral award of the Adjustment Board is famously difficult. The Railway Labor Act states that the findings and order of the division shall be conclusive on the parties, except … for failure of the division to comply with the requirements of this chapter, for failure of the order to conform, or confine itself, to matters within the scope of the division’s jurisdiction, or for fraud or corruption by a member of the division making the order.

The Brotherhood alleged several statutory and jurisdictional defects, in addition to a due-process claim under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The judge denied the claims and entered summary judgment for Union Pacific. The Brotherhood now appeals, and Union Pacific has moved for sanctions under Rule 38 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. We affirm and grant the motion for sanctions. The Brotherhood’s arguments are facially untenable and fly in the face of clear precedent. The Board had authority to decide this dispute and properly did so.

Affirmed and Granted

Full Text

Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.