Exelon Generation Co. v. Local 15, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO

140 F. Supp. 3d 751, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136535, 2015 WL 5897773
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedOctober 6, 2015
DocketCase No. 15 C 309
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 140 F. Supp. 3d 751 (Exelon Generation Co. v. Local 15, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Exelon Generation Co. v. Local 15, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO, 140 F. Supp. 3d 751, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136535, 2015 WL 5897773 (N.D. Ill. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

MATTHEW F. KENNELLY, District Judge .

Local 15,- International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO, filed grievances against Exelon Generation Company, LLC on behalf of six employees for imposing upon them a requirement of complete abstinence-from alcohol. Exelon imposed this requirement upon each of the employees pursuant to the recommendations of its Substance Abuse Expert in her role within its Fitness For Duty program, which is mandated by Nuclear Regulatory Commision (NRC) regulations.

Exelon has filed suit against Local. 15 seeking a declaratory judgment that the union cannot challenge fitness-for-duty determinations by filing grievances or seeking arbitration under the dispute resolution procedure established by the parties’ collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Local 15 responds that the CBA requires arbitration of the dispute and that any disagreement about the dispute’s arbitra-bility must itself be arbitrated. Both parties have moved for summary judgment. For the reasons stated below, ’ the Court grants Local 15’s motion and denies Exe-lon’s motion.1

Background

Exelon is in the business of power generation and supply, it owns and operates nuclear power plants in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. It is licensed to conduct nuclear power generation by the NRC and is subject to the agency’s regulations. One such set of regulations requires all commercial nuclear power plant licensees to maintain an approved Fitness For Duty (FFD) program. This program [754]*754must “provide reasonable assurance that individuals are trustworthy and reliable as demonstrated by the avoidance .of substance abuse.” 10 C.F.R. § 26.23(a). It must also “provide reasonable assurance that individuals are not under the influence of any substance, legal or illegal, or mentally or physically impaired from any cause, which in any way adversely affects their ability to safely and competently perform their duties.” Id. § 26.23(b).

Like other nuclear power plant operators, Exelon requires employees working in its nuclear power generating facilities to acquire unescorted access authorization as a condition of their employment. NRC regulations require that when there are indications that an individual with unescorted access “may be in violation of the licensee’s or other entity’s FFD policy or is otherwise unable to safely and competently perform his or her duties,” that individual must undergo an evaluation called a “determination of fitness.” Id. § 26.189(a). This determination of fitness must be carried out by a qualified Substance Abuse Expert (SAE) when an employee’s violation of the FFD program involves substance abuse. Id. §§ 26.187, 26.189(a)(1). NRC regulations provide that a qualified SAE “shall evaluate individuals who have violated the substance abuse provisions of an FFD policy and make recommendations concerning education, treatment, return to duty,.followup drug and alcohol testing, and aftercare.” Id. § 26.187(g). An SAE has the obligation “to protect public health and safety and the common defense and security by professionally evaluating the individual and recommending appropriate education/treatment, follow-up tests, and aftercare.” Id. In order to “ensure consistency and continuity in the treatment of an individual who may be undergoing treatment, aftercare, and followup testing,” 70 Fed.Reg. No. 166, 50442, 50575 (Aug. 25, 2005), NRC regulations. strictly limit who may review or revise an SAE’s evaluation:

Neither the individual nor licensees and other entities may seek a second determination of fitness if a determination of fitness under this part has already been performed by a qualified professional employed by. or under contract to the .licensee or other entity. After the initial determination of fitness has been made, the professional may modify his or her evaluation and recommendations based on new or additional information from other sources including, but not limited to, the subject individual, another licensee or entity, or staff of an education or treatment program. Unless the professional who made the initial determination of fitness is no longer employed by or under contract to the licensee or other entity, only that professional is authorized to modify the evaluation and recommendations.

10 C.F.R. § 26.189(d).

Exelon is required to submit to NRC audit at least once every twenty-four months. The NRC last audited Exelon’s FFD program in October 2014 and approved it as compliant with the agency’s regulations. Among other things, NRC inspectors verified that Exelon’s SAE was qualified and that the company’s FFD program met the requirements of 10 C.F.R. § 26.

Pursuant to its approved program, Exe-lon contracts with Triangle Occupational Medicine and its president, Dr. Barbara Pohlman, to provide medical review officer services. Dr. Pohlman is a licensed physician with knowledge of substance abuse disorders and training in substance abuse treatment. Although she serves as Exe-lon’s Medical Review Officer and SAE, Dr. Pohlman and her staff often receive treatment recommendations from staff mem[755]*755bers of Optum Health, which administers Exelon’s employee assistance program. Exelon’s written FFD policy provides that Optum staff may be called upon to collect specimens for drug and alcohol testing, perform behavioral observation, and provide input for determinations of fitness. Optum staff is responsible for providing confidential assessment, short-term counseling, referral services, and treatment monitoring for FFD related issues.

After conducting an assessment, Optum submits a report to Dr. Pohlman. Opium’s reports are modeled on sample reports that Optum provides to its staff, which instruct evaluators to communicate the issue or problem the employee presents and the employee’s history of substance use. Optum representatives are instructed to provide a treatment recommendation, a diagnosis and prognosis, and a retum-to-work recommendation. The sample reports also ask the Optum representative to provide a “professional determination that the employee is/is not ‘trustworthy and reliable’ to perform duties and be considered to maintain nuclear access to protected areas” and to make a “clinical recommendation regarding whether or not the employee should maintain a lifetime of abstinence from alcohol and/or addictive substances.” The sample form further instructs the Optum representative: “Please use the following wording: ‘Due to the client’s history and clinical presentation, complete abstinence from the use of alcohol and/or any other intoxicating substances at all times and under all circumstances, including during working hours and non-working hours, weekends, and holidays, is recommended.’” Dr. Pohl-man makes fitness determinations in light of the recommendations she receives from Optum staff.

In 2012 and 2013, numerous Exelon employees were evaluated by Optum staff, who submitted their findings and recommendations to Dr. Pohlman. Dr. Pohlman reviewed and adopted those findings and recommendations in the course of making determinations of fitness for those employees. The employees then received letters from Susan Teehau, Exelon’s Access Authorization Fitness for Duty Program Manager.

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140 F. Supp. 3d 751, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136535, 2015 WL 5897773, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/exelon-generation-co-v-local-15-international-brotherhood-of-electrical-ilnd-2015.