Postal Police Officers Ass'n v. U.S. Postal Serv.

368 F. Supp. 3d 1136
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedMarch 25, 2019
DocketCase No. 18-11457
StatusPublished

This text of 368 F. Supp. 3d 1136 (Postal Police Officers Ass'n v. U.S. Postal Serv.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Postal Police Officers Ass'n v. U.S. Postal Serv., 368 F. Supp. 3d 1136 (E.D. Mich. 2019).

Opinion

MARIANNE O. BATTANI, United States District Judge *1139I. INTRODUCTION

The Plaintiff Postal Police Officers Association commenced this action in this Court on May 8, 2018, seeking to confirm and enforce a pair of arbitration awards through which arbitrator E. Frank Cornelius ordered the Defendant United States Postal Service to reinstate Postal Police Officer ("PPO") Geoff Bailey and to cease and desist from efforts to avoid complying with the arbitrator's reinstatement order. The Plaintiff labor organization seeks this relief under the Postal Reorganization Act ("PRA"), 39 U.S.C. § 1208(b), and section 9 of the Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA"), 9 U.S.C. § 9. Defendant has asserted a counterclaim to vacate portions of the two arbitration awards, alleging that the arbitrator acted outside his authority in issuing these awards.

Two motions presently are pending before the Court. First, Plaintiff seeks an order confirming the arbitration awards and dismissing Defendant's counterclaim. In support of its motion, Plaintiff observes that the collective bargaining agreement ("CBA") between the Plaintiff labor organization and Defendant provides for binding arbitration of employee grievances and for discharge only for just cause, and it contends that the arbitrator plainly acted pursuant to the broad authority conferred under the CBA when he determined that the discharge of PPO Bailey was excessive, and that this officer instead should be suspended without pay for a year. Plaintiff further asserts that when Defendant responded to the arbitrator's initial award by revoking PPO Bailey's security clearance - a decision that rendered him ineligible to return to his former position - the arbitrator again acted within his authority by ordering Defendant to cease and desist from taking actions that, in the arbitrator's view, amounted to an "attempted end run around" his initial award of reinstatement without back pay. (Dkt. 1, Complaint, Ex. C, 4/30/2018 Arbitration Order at 1.)

Next, Defendant has filed a cross-motion for summary judgment, arguing that it is entitled as a matter of law to an order vacating the arbitration awards to the extent that the arbitrator seeks to override the revocation of PPO Bailey's security clearance or require that this officer be returned to his former position without the requisite security clearance. In support of this motion, Defendant asserts that nothing in the CBA confers authority on the arbitrator to review a decision by the Chief Postal Inspector to revoke a security clearance. Relatedly, Defendant contends that nothing in the CBA reflects its agreement to arbitrate the question whether an security clearance should be issued or maintained. Accordingly, Defendant submits that the arbitrator acted outside of his authority when he attempted to override the revocation of PPO Bailey's security clearance, and that this order therefore must be vacated.

On October 11, 2018, the Court heard oral argument on the parties' cross-motions. For the reasons set forth below, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff's motion to confirm the arbitration awards and for summary judgment on Defendant's counterclaim, and DENIES Defendant's cross-motion to vacate portions of the arbitrator's awards.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. The Facts Underlying the Arbitrator's Awards

Postal Police Officer ("PPO") Geoff Bailey served as a police officer for the Defendant *1140United States Postal Service, and was based in Detroit. In January of 2014, a man crashed a rented U-Haul van into the lobby of a post office branch in downtown Detroit, and PPO Bailey and another officer, PPO Michael Jefferson, were dispatched to the scene. PPO Jefferson prepared a report of the incident, and the driver of the van was charged with a federal crime.

In December of 2015, PPO Bailey applied for a promotion to a supervisory position. In support of this application, PPO Bailey cited the January 2014 incident report as an example of his ability to communicate in writing. About a month later, an Assistant United States Attorney ("AUSA") interviewed PPO Bailey in preparation for the forthcoming trial of the U-Haul driver, and PPO Bailey stated that he had not, in fact, completed a report of the January 2014 incident. Rather, he explained that he had started to prepare a report, but then had deleted this draft upon learning that PPO Jefferson had already completed an incident report.

Based on the apparent misstatement in PPO Bailey's application for a promotion, Defendant commenced an investigation through the Office of the Inspector General ("OIG"), and the officer was placed on administrative leave. Two OIG agents interviewed PPO Bailey in June of 2016, and he stated (i) that he could not remember whether or not he wrote a report of the January 2014 incident, and (ii) that he "would have to check the record" to determine whether he had prepared such a report. (Complaint, Ex. B, 3/19/2018 Arbitration Award at 7.)

On March 10, 2017, Defendant issued a notice of removal, advising PPO Bailey that he would be discharged effective April 10, 2017 for making an intentional misrepresentation on his application for a promotion, and for making false statements during the June 2016 OIG interview. In response, the Plaintiff Postal Police Officers Association filed a grievance on behalf of PPO Bailey challenging Defendant's decision to discharge him.

B. The Arbitration Proceedings and Awards

When the parties failed to resolve the grievance arising from PPO Bailey's discharge, the matter proceeded to arbitration. After two days of hearings, arbitrator E. Frank Cornelius issued his decision on March 19, 2018. The arbitrator found that Defendant failed to establish the first ground for PPO Bailey's discharge - i.e. , that the officer had made an intentional misstatement in his application for a promotion - but he upheld Defendant's determination that PPO Bailey had provided false information during his OIG interview. The arbitrator then concluded that discharge was too severe a penalty for PPO Bailey's violation, and that the officer instead should be reinstated without back pay - a determination tantamount to a one-year suspension without pay. At the conclusion of his decision, the arbitrator stated that he would retain jurisdiction in order to address any issues regarding the implementation of his award.

Following this arbitration award, Defendant immediately placed PPO Bailey on administrative leave and directed him not to report to work. Shortly thereafter, Defendant notified PPO Bailey in an April 6, 2018 letter that in light of the OIG investigation, the agency had determined that he "no longer me[ ]t the security requirements of the position" of postal police officer.

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Bluebook (online)
368 F. Supp. 3d 1136, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/postal-police-officers-assn-v-us-postal-serv-mied-2019.