Opinion ID: 377887
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: post-termination conduct of the company

Text: 13 The Company also argues that however defective its formal grievance meeting might have been, the arbitrator had no power to weigh these defects when he decided whether the circumstances justified firing Heller. How the Company conducted itself after it decided to fire Heller has nothing to do with whether it had the power to fire Heller in the first instance. See Delta Lines, Inc. v. Teamsters Local 468, 66 Cal.App.3d 960, 136 Cal.Rptr. 345 (1977). 14 In his oral opinion, the arbitrator did discuss the Company's conduct at the formal grievance procedure. Unlike the arbitrator in Delta Lines, however, this arbitrator did not state that he was reaching his decision because of post-termination conduct of the Company. Rather, the arbitrator seems to have reached his conclusion in light of all the circumstances surrounding the discharge. (And I say, in my judgment, that this penalty was unreasonable because it was too severe, given this full factual picture. And for that reason, I'm going to overrule this discharge.) 15 The arbitrator reasoned that the Company did not have just cause to fire Heller because though Heller had been insubordinate, the Company itself was at least partially to blame for the firing and bore some responsibility for the bad blood that existed between it and the Union. Indeed, the arbitrator specifically noted that Heller would not have been fired if he had talked with management officials immediately after the confrontation and that the grossly improper behavior of one of the two management officials present was the cause of his refusal to talk. Although under other circumstances the Company might have been justified in firing Heller, it behaved unreasonably under the facts of this case because of its own behavior both before the events that directly led up to his firing and during them. 16 The Company interprets the opinion of the arbitrator differently, pointing to the amount of time the arbitrator devoted to the conduct of the Company at the grievance procedure in delivering his oral opinion. The Supreme Court, however, has consistently required us to favor the arbitrator's decision when his opinion is subject to several interpretations. A mere ambiguity in the opinion accompanying an award, which permits the inference that the arbitrator may have exceeded his authority, is not a reason for refusing to enforce the award. Arbitrators have no obligation to the court to give their reasons for an award. To require opinions free of ambiguity may lead arbitrators to play it safe by writing no supporting opinions. This would be undesirable for a well-reasoned opinion tends to engender confidence in the integrity of the process and aids in clarifying the underlying agreement. United Steelworkers v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593, 598, 80 S.Ct. 1358, 1361, 4 L.Ed.2d 1424 (1960).