Relationship between collective agreementarbitration and law

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Relationship between collective
agreement/arbitration and law
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Alexander v. Gardner-Denver

• Voluntary filing of a grievance under a CBK
  alleging discrimination does not foreclose
  employee from filing suit under Title VII
• ee must meet jurisdictional requirements
• CBK does not waive an employees statutory rights
• arbitration and EEOC/courts different forums with
  different authority
• arb - interpret CBK
• EEOC - enforce Title VII

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Waiver of Statutory Rights?

• MUST an employee use the (grievance and)
  arbitration procedure?
• Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lane Corp., Sup.
  Ct., 1991
• brokerage firm employee who had agreed to
  arbitrate any employment controversy required to
  arbitrate age discrimination claim
• agreement to arbitrate a waiver of right to sue

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Waiver of Statutory Rights?(cont.)

• Wright v. Universal Maritime Service Corp,
  U.S.Supreme Court, 1998
• Is there a conflict between
• Gardner-Denver (ee covered by a CBA may go to
  court on statutory claim regardless of outcome of
  grievance procedure)
• Gilmer (ee may waive statutory right to file if
  ee agrees to submit dispute to arb)

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Wright (continued)

• Incorporation of statutory law in CBK does alter
  fact that this a statutory claim, not a claim
  under CBK
• Presumption of arbitrability only extends to
  those issues which can be decided better by
  arbitrators than by courts - issues under CBK,
  not a federal statute
• Waiver of statutory rights must be clear and
  unmistakable must be explicitly stated in CBK
• Court unwilling to infer a Gilmer-like individual
  waiver of statutory rights from a collective
  agreement
• No explicit incorporation in agreement of ADA, as
  there was with OSHA