International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 519 v. United Parcel Service, Inc.

275 F. Supp. 2d 944, 173 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2045, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25337, 2001 WL 34125804
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Tennessee
DecidedSeptember 26, 2001
Docket3:00-cv-00222
StatusPublished

This text of 275 F. Supp. 2d 944 (International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 519 v. United Parcel Service, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 519 v. United Parcel Service, Inc., 275 F. Supp. 2d 944, 173 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2045, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25337, 2001 WL 34125804 (E.D. Tenn. 2001).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JARVIS, District Judge.

Plaintiff, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 519 (“Local 519”), filed this action seeking vacation of an arbitrator’s award which upheld the termination of one of its members, Thomas P. Loftis (“Loftis”), by his employer, United Parcel Service, Inc. (“UPS”). In response, UPS filed both an answer and counterclaim seeking to enforce the arbitrator’s award. Jurisdiction is predicated upon Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1946, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 185, and is not in dispute.

This lawsuit has its genesis in some sort of altercation which occurred between Lof-tis and a co-employee, Kenneth Ray Adkins (“Adkins”), at the UPS facility located at 500 Callahan Road in Knoxville, Tennessee, on April 29,1999. Local 519 contends in this action that Loftis was improperly terminated for violating UPS’ “zero-tolerance” policy against workplace violence, which policy is not part of the collective bargaining agreement between UPS and Local 519. Thus, Local 519 maintains that the arbitrator’s decision upholding Loftis’ discharge unlawfully violated the bargained-for terms of the agreement. UPS, on the other hand, contends that it properly terminated Loftis for just cause and, consequently, that the arbitrator’s decision should be enforced.

This matter is presently before the court on the parties’ motions for summary judgment [see Docs. 11 and 13]. The issues raised have been exceptionally well briefed by the parties [see Docs. 10, 14, 15, 18, 21, and 23]. Additionally, after the original underlying issues were briefed pursuant to the scheduling order [see Doc. 9], plaintiff moved to vacate the award of the arbitrator based upon the alleged fraud of UPS [see Doc. 26]. In conjunction with that motion, plaintiff also filed a motion to amend its complaint to allege that “the Award of the arbitrator was procured by the fraud or undue means of the defendant, UPS.” [See Doc. 31]. The record reflects that those additional issues have now been fully briefed by the parties [see Docs. 26, 29, 32, 36, and 37]. For the reasons that follow, plaintiffs motions will be denied, UPS’s motion will be granted, and the award of the arbitrator will be affirmed and enforced.

I.

Local 519 is a voluntary association and a labor organization which provides representation to certain non-management and non-supervisory employees of UPS. In this case, Local 519 represents Loftis, whose discharge and subsequent grievance led to the arbitration which is the basis for this action. Local 519 and UPS have executed a collective bargaining agreement (“CBA” or “Agreement”) 1 which governs the relationship between these parties and which addresses such things as wages, hours of work, benefits, and working conditions of the employees represented by Local 519. There are no other agreements between Local 519 and UPS.

The primary provision at issue in this case is Article 52 of the CBA, entitled “DISCHARGE OR SUSPENSION,” which sets forth, among other things, the conditions under which UPS may fire a bargaining unit employee:

*947 (A) The Employer shall not discharge nor suspend any employee without just cause, but in respect to discharge or suspension shall give at least one (1) warning notice of a complaint against such employee to the employee, in writing, and a copy of the same to the Local Union, except that no warning notice need be given to an employee before discharge if the cause of such discharge is dishonesty, drinking of or under the influence of alcoholic beverage or narcotics, including hallucinogens while on duty, carrying or permitting the carrying of drugs or narcotics on his/her person, or equipment, that is prohibited by State or Federal Law (including meal period), recklessness resulting in a serious accident while on duty, an unavoidable runaway accident, failure to report an accident, carrying of unauthorized passengers while on the job, engaging in unprovoked physical violence on Company property or while on duty. The warning notice as herein provided shall be given to the employee with a copy to the Union within ten (10) working days of said complaint or within ten (10) working days of knowledge of said complaint and shall not remain in effect for a period of more than nine (9) months from date of said warning notice.

[See Doc. 1, Ex. A, pp. 174-75 (emphasis added) ]. The above italicized language constitutes those offenses commonly referred to as “cardinal infractions” elsewhere in the CBA. For example, Article 7 limits UPS’ power to fire summarily as follows:

Except in cases involving cardinal infractions under the applicable Supplement, Rider or Addendum, an employee to be discharged or suspended shall be allowed to remain on the job, without loss of pay unless and until the discharge or suspension is sustained under the grievance procedure. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any superior provisions in Supplements, Riders or Addenda shall prevail. The Union agrees it will not unreasonably delay the processing of such cases.

[See id., p. 16]. Also of significance in this case is Article 51, Section 3, of the CBA which sets forth the scope of the arbitrator’s authority:

The arbitrator shall have the authority to apply the terms of this Agreement, and to render a decision on any grievance coming before the arbitrator, but shall not have the authority to amend or modify this Agreement.... The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding on the parties and employees involved. In the event that the losing party fails to abide by the arbitrator’s decision, or that either party refuses to submit to the arbitrator’s jurisdiction, the other party shall have the right to take all legal or economic recourse.

[See Doc. 1, Ex. A, p. 174], Consistent with that provision, the CBA also provides in Article 8, Section 6, as follows:

The arbitrator shall have the authority to apply the provisions of this Agreement and to render a decision on any grievance coming before him/her but shall not have the authority to amend or modify this Agreement or to establish new terms or conditions of employment.

[See id., p. 21]. Finally, UPS’ workplace rules reflect a “zero-tolerance” policy against workplace violence and sexual harassment. To that end, UPS has placed posters around its Callahan Road facility which state, in pertinent part, as follows:

*948 NO CLOWNING AROUND! UPS HAS A ZERO-TOLERANCE FOR WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT

The following is applicable to all United Parcel Service employees—
ZERO-TOLERANCE
At UPS we strive to maintain a comfortable work environment for all employees. When it comes to Sexual Harassment or Workplace Violence there is no room for clowning around. Workplace Violence (not limited to) includes pushing people around, even in horseplay, as well as verbal threats.

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275 F. Supp. 2d 944, 173 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2045, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25337, 2001 WL 34125804, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/international-brotherhood-of-teamsters-local-519-v-united-parcel-service-tned-2001.