In the Matter of New York City Transit Authority v. Transport Workers Union of America, Local 100, et al.

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals held that an arbitrator did not exceed his authority under a collective bargaining agreement by reducing the termination penalty imposed on a transit authority employee who assaulted a customer. The court concluded that the arbitrator had the contractual authority to determine whether the exception for a clearly excessive penalty applied, and therefore reversed the Appellate Division and dismissed the petition to vacate the award. Two judges dissented, concluding that the arbitrator clearly erred in applying the contractual exception.

Holdings

1. The arbitrator did not exceed his power. Once the arbitrator found that an assault occurred, the collective bargaining agreement empowered him to determine whether the case was one of the rare cases in which the Authority's penalty was clearly excessive and should be modified.
2. The court's disagreement with, or uncertainty about, the arbitrator's interpretation and factual findings does not justify vacating the award where the arbitrator acted within the authority granted by the collective bargaining agreement.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the arbitrator exceeded the power granted by the collective bargaining agreement and CPLR 7511(b)(1)(iii) by finding that the exception for a clearly excessive penalty applied despite the absence of precedent supporting a lesser penalty.
2. Whether the courts could review the arbitrator's application of the collective bargaining agreement's past-precedent and employee-record factors in determining whether termination was clearly excessive.

Disposition

reversed