Opinion ID: 2641881
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Scope of the panel's authority

Text: FairPoint first asserts that the panel acted in excess of the authority granted to it by the CBA's arbitration clause. This clause provides that an arbitrator shall have no power to add to, subtract from, modify or disregard any of the provisions of this -10- agreement. FairPoint purports that this provision raises the standard of our review, requiring us to reject even plausible interpretations of the CBA that exceed this express limitation[] on an arbitrator's authority. This argument asks too much of the broadly worded arbitration provision in question. In interpreting a provision of similar generality,2 we have recognized that a standard 'no modification' clause incorporates general legal principles concerning an arbitrator's authority, reinforcing the admonition . . . that legitimate arbitral awards draw their essence from the contract. Kraft Foods, Inc. v. Office & Prof'l Emps. Int'l Union, AFL-CIO, CLC, Local 1295, 203 F.3d 98, 101 (1st Cir. 2000) (internal alteration and quotation marks omitted) (quoting LaRocque v. R.W.F., Inc., 8 F.3d 95, 97 (1st Cir. 1993)). That an award must draw its essence from the contract, Misco, 484 U.S. at 38, is simply a reiteration of our requirement, described above, that the interpretation be in some way plausible. Labor Relations Div. of Constr. Indus., 29 F.3d at 745 (citing Misco, 484 U.S. at 36-38). As such, without foreclosing the possibility that the text of some arbitration clauses might limit an arbitrator's power of 2 That clause stated: '[t]he arbitrator shall have no authority to amend, alter, or modify this Agreement or its terms and shall limit the decision solely to the interpretation and application of this Agreement.' Kraft Foods, Inc. v. Office & Prof'l Emps. Int'l Union, AFL-CIO, CLC, Local 1295, 203 F.3d 98, 101 (1st Cir. 2000). -11- contract construction to a greater extent than the background law, Kraft Foods, Inc., 203 F.3d at 101 n.1, we find that the generic no-modification provision in question evidences no intent to circumscribe the arbitrator's authority beyond our accepted standard.3