United Paperworkers International Union, Afl-cio, et al. v. Misco, Inc. (484 U.S. 29)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided December 1, 1987 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 484 U.S. 29 · 108 S. Ct. 364
- Decided
- December 1, 1987
- Term
- October Term 1987
- Vote
- 8–0
- Majority author
- Justice White
- Issue area
- Unions
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice White delivered the opinion of the Court. The issue for decision involves several aspects of when a federal court may refuse to enforce an arbitration award rendered under a collective-bargaining agreement. I Misco, Inc. (Misco, or the Company), operates a paper converting plant in Monroe, Louisiana. The Company is a party to a collective-bargaining agreement with the United Paper-workers International Union, AFL-CIO, and its union local (the Union); the agreement covers the production and maintenance employees at the plant. Under the agreement, the Company or the Union may submit to arbitration any grievance that arises from the interpretation or application of its terms, and the arbitrator’s decision is final and binding upon the parties. The arbitrator’s authority is limited to interpretation and application of the terms contained in the agreement itself. The agreement reserves to management the right to establish, amend, and enforce “rules and regulations regulating the discipline or discharge of employees” and the procedures for imposing discipline. Such rules were to be posted and were to be in effect “until ruled on by grievance and arbitration procedures as to fairness and necessity.” For about a decade, the Company’s rules had listed as causes for discharge the bringing of intoxicants, narcotics, or controlled substances on to plant property or consuming any…
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