Niagara Blower Co. v. Shopmen's Local Union 576 of the Int'l Ass'n of Bridge

340 F. Supp. 3d 277
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 14, 2018
Docket16-CV-262
StatusPublished

This text of 340 F. Supp. 3d 277 (Niagara Blower Co. v. Shopmen's Local Union 576 of the Int'l Ass'n of Bridge) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Niagara Blower Co. v. Shopmen's Local Union 576 of the Int'l Ass'n of Bridge, 340 F. Supp. 3d 277 (W.D.N.Y. 2018).

Opinion

LAWRENCE J. VILARDO, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

On March 31, 2016, Niagara Blower Company ("Niagara") petitioned this Court to vacate the arbitration award that reinstated John Beller as a Niagara employee. Docket Item 1. On July 22, 2016, this Court referred this matter to United States Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder, Jr., for all proceedings under 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A) and (B). Docket Item 13.

On November 3, 2017, Judge Schroeder issued a Report and Recommendation ("R & R") recommending that this Court grant Niagara's petition to vacate the arbitration award and deny the union's counterclaim to enforce the award. Docket Item 19. On November 17, 2017, the respondent, Shopmen's Local Union 576 of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental, and Reinforcing Iron Workers, timely objected to the R & R. Docket Item 20. On December 15, 2017, Niagara responded, Docket Item 22, and on January 1, 2018, the union replied, Docket Item 25. This Court heard argument on January 26, 2018. Docket Item 26.

As discussed below, this Court finds that the arbitrator's decision was rooted in the authority granted him in the collective bargaining agreement ("CBA") between Niagara and the union. For that reason, the Court disagrees that the arbitrator improperly reinstated Beller, declines to adopt the R & R, and denies Niagara's petition to vacate the arbitration award.

BACKGROUND

On March 6, 2015, Jon Beller arrived at work over two hours late-at a quarter to eight in the morning-under the influence of alcohol. Docket Item 1-7 at 3. Beller started his work as a welder, and at about ten in the morning, his immediate supervisor detected the odor of alcohol on his breath. Id. The supervisor reported Beller's condition to the plant superintendent, who contacted Niagara's human resources manager. Id. The human resources manager contacted the parent company, Alfa Laval, and called a taxi; Beller then was taken to Healthworks WNY for drug and alcohol testing. Id. Around a quarter to noon, an alcohol breath test was administered, *279and Beller registered a .009% blood alcohol content ("BAC"). Id. at 4. Three days later, on March 9, 2015, Niagara terminated Beller. Id. at 5.

The union properly grieved Beller's discharge, and Niagara denied the grievance at every stage. Id. The union then submitted the grievance to an arbitrator as required by the CBA. Docket Item 19 at 2. After two hearings and briefing by the parties, the arbitrator found that Beller was terminated without proper cause and issued an award reinstating Beller but disciplining him with a 15-day suspension without pay for coming to work impaired. Id. at 4.

I. ARBITRATOR'S OPINION AND AWARD

The arbitration took place before arbitrator Thomas N. Rinaldo, Esq., and the parties raised the following issue for resolution:

Was the discharge of John Beller for proper cause? If not, what shall the remedy be?

Docket Item 5-2 at 17. After two days of hearings, the parties submitted post-arbitration briefs, and Rinaldo issued his opinion and award on January 3, 2016. Docket Item 19 at 4.

In his opinion and award, Rinaldo found that Beller had arrived at work and began working while intoxicated. Docket Item 1-7 at 21-22. Rinaldo accepted the testimony of Niagara's expert, Dr. Mark Costanza. Id. at 20. As noted above, Beller had registered a .009% BAC during the breath test, id. at 4, and Dr. Costanza extrapolated that Beller's blood alcohol content would have been .09% when Beller had reported to work four hours before the test. Id. at 20. Accepting that testimony, Rinaldo concluded that Beller had reported to work while under the influence of alcohol. Id.

Nevertheless, Rinaldo found that Beller was terminated without proper cause. Id. at 21-22. Rinaldo acknowledged that Niagara's "Plant Rules" (1) prohibited working or coming to work while impaired and (2) warned that a violation could result in immediate termination. Id. at 17-18. Rinaldo also noted that the CBA required Niagara to have proper cause for termination, but that proper cause had not been defined in the CBA. Id. Therefore, in light of the questions presented to him by the parties, Rinaldo first addressed whether Niagara had proper cause for Beller's termination.

Rinaldo found that there was no evidence in the record that Beller's behavior "reflected any of the tell tale [sic] signs of intoxication, being impaired, or under the influence.... Nor [was] there any evidence in the record that [Beller's] work itself was substandard, careless, or deficient in any other way."

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340 F. Supp. 3d 277, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/niagara-blower-co-v-shopmens-local-union-576-of-the-intl-assn-of-nywd-2018.