Court Opinion

ID: 9479703
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 07:26:27.783826+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:47:13.105509
License: Public Domain

McKAY, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I dissent from the court’s conclusion in part III that the arbitrator’s award drew its essence from the party’s submission of issues to him. While I have no quarrel with the rest of the court’s opinion, I find it unnecessary to reach those points because I cannot agree that the arbitrator’s award draws its essence from the contract and the submission — the latter being necessary to the validity of the award. See United Steelworkers v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co., 363 U.S. 574, 582, 80 S.Ct. 1347, 1353, 4 L.Ed.2d 1409 (1960) (“A party cannot be required to submit to arbitration any dispute which he has not agreed so to submit.”); United Steelworkers v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593, 598, 80 S.Ct. 1358, 1361, 4 L.Ed.2d 1424 (1960) (“We see no reason to assume that this arbitrator has abused the trust the parties confided in him and has not stayed within the areas marked out for his consideration. It is not apparent that he went beyond the submission.”); Retail Store Employees Union Local 782 v. Sav-On Groceries, 508 F.2d 500, 502-03 (10th Cir. *9501975) (the issue of backpay was not submitted to the arbitrator and thus the arbitration award was null and void insofar as it applied to that issue).
The full text and limit of the submission is: “Did the Company violate the Labor Agreement when it failed to recall Grievant Sandra Cortez from layoff on May 20, 1984? If so, to what relief is Grievant entitled?” It strains credibility to suggest that in context this submission is vague insofar as who is the object of the remedies being sought. The majority interprets this submission as if it reads: “If [the company violates the labor agreement], to what relief is Grievant entitled [from the Union]?” The court’s entire decision is bottomed on this point, and I respectfully cannot agree with it. I believe union liability is not one of the issues submitted to the arbitrator.
I would not imply that an arbitration submission, clearly framed in terms of employer’s breach, is modified to make the union a party defendant for remedies purposes merely because it does not expressly exclude the union from remedies. In my judgment, it is clearly an abuse of language and content to so construe a submission which restricts the scope of arbitration authority, as well as the contract itself. This is particularly true where the effect is to prevent fair notice and to put the union in clear conflict with the person it is representing. I probably would not hold that such a submission, deliberately and expressly entered into, would be illegal as against public policy. However, I clearly would not approve an arbitrator implying such a submission against the clear context of the submission language, thus requiring the union to defend itself against its client while at the same time requiring it to give that client fair representation. Although factually distinguishable, I find the principles of Local 1837 v. Maine Public Service Co., 579 F.Supp. 744 (D.Me.1984) (the question submitted to the arbitrator: “[W]hat shall be the remedy?” did not empower the arbitrator to disregard the collective bargaining agreement in fashioning a remedy), clearly supportive of these views. See also, Courier-Citizen v. Boston Electro-typers Union No. 11, 702 F.2d 273, 281-82 (1st Cir.1983) (the question submitted to the arbitrator: “Did the Company violate the contract by placing Richard Grant in the laborer's job.... If so, what shall be the remedy?” did not empower the arbitrator to provide a back pay remedy to any employee, except the senior journeyman in layoff status; and the court refused to enforce an arbitrator’s award which exceeded the authority conferred in the submission by awarding back pay to two employees). I can say with confidence that the arbitrator’s award does not draw its essence from the submission. “Essence” does not take much, but whatever the odor of this arbitration award, it is not essence.