Opinion ID: 698684
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Testimony of Khalil Khalil

Text: 13 Garcia first complains that Stanton did not interview or present the testimony of his coworker, Khalil Khalil. He argues that Khalil would have testified that Garcia simply found the letters, read them and left them on the floor. He would also have testified that Garcia did not slide the letters under the door and that Khalil and Garcia knew about the surveillance camera and would have known that any suspicious action on their part would be recorded. 14 Khalil's testimony would have directly contradicted Garcia's signed statement admitting that he slid the letters under the door. The Union's strategy, however, was not to contest the distribution of the letters, mainly because of the damning evidence of Garcia's signed statement. Instead, Stanton chose to contest the preparation of the letters. He argued that there was little evidence that Garcia wrote the letters and that termination was a harsh penalty for a 25 year employee with a good record. 15 While Garcia may disagree with Stanton's strategy, and while another lawyer might have approached the case differently, it is not our job to substitute our judgment for that of the Union, even if, with the benefit of hindsight, it appears that the union could have made a better call. Ooley, 961 F.2d at 1302. We find Stanton's actions here far from irrational, especially given the evidence he had to reconcile. Perhaps the ideal strategy would have been to interview Khalil, but the Union is not held to such a high standard here. We must defer to the Union's strategic choices unless they are irrational, discriminatory or in bad faith, and Stanton's actions were none of the above. 16 Further, even if we were to find Stanton's actions questionable, Garcia has not established that the result would probably have been different had Stanton presented Khalil's testimony. Garcia asserts that Khalil would have testified that Garcia simply found the letters and slid them under the door, thus contesting Zenith's claim that Garcia also wrote the letters. However, the arbitrator specifically noted in his opinion that any further denial by Garcia that he wrote the letters would be highly suspect. Garcia had already contradicted himself by twice denying that he distributed the letters, then signing a statement admitting that he had distributed them. Arb.Op. at 6. The arbitrator already doubted Garcia's veracity; we find it hard to believe that further testimony providing a third version of events, and yet another contradiction of Garcia's signed statement and earlier oral statements, would have helped Garcia's cause.