Rational basis test

The Board focuses on whether there was a rational basis for the withdrawal of Appellant’s grievance challenging his rate of pay.  This case involves a fairly complex set of pay provisions, negotiated by the Union over the course of several contracts.  After the Company denied the grievance at the initial ...

The PRB’s jurisdiction over appeals related to the processing of grievances is limited to claims that the matter was improperly handled because of fraud, discrimination, or collusion with management, or that the disposition or handling of the matter was devoid of any rational basis.  Here, the Local Bargaining Unit Chairperson ...

The International Union argues that the Appellant lacks standing because she accepted a settlement in which she agreed to resign her employment in exchange for compensation.  Consistent with prior PRB decisions, the Board rejects this argument.  The relevant consideration in this case is what is being appealed.  Appellant is appealing ...

The PRB’s jurisdiction over appeals related to the processing of grievances is limited to claims that the matter was improperly handled because of fraud, discrimination, or collusion with management, or that the disposition or handling of the matter was devoid of any rational basis.  Here, Appellant does not claim that ...

The PRB’s jurisdiction over claims arising from the disposition of collective bargaining grievances is limited to the question whether the matter was improperly handled because of fraud, discrimination, or collusion with management or whether the disposition was devoid of a rational basis.  In this case, the PRB has no reason ...

Appellant does not claim that the International Representative’s decision to settle her grievance was the product of fraud, discrimination, or collusion with management.  Accordingly, the PRB focuses on whether the decision to settle the grievance had a rational basis.  The International Representative thoroughly investigated Appellant’s termination grievance but found that ...

The Local Chairperson made a rational decision to withdraw Appellant’s grievance.  Appellant was a low seniority employee who was disciplined multiple times during her short tenure with the Company.  In fact, management previously disciplined Appellant for the same infraction which lead to her termination.  When interviewed by the Company about ...

The International Representative made a rational decision that the Union was unlikely to prevail on Appellant’s grievance alleging harassment and a hostile work environment due to a lack of evidence to substantiate the claim.  The Representative also reasonably concluded that the plant closure meant that Appellant was no longer subjected ...

The PRB finds that the Zone Committeeperson’s decision to withdraw the grievance was rational.  Multiple witnesses asserted that Appellant had acted in an aggressive manner toward a co-worker.  In addition, a supervisor witnessed part of the incident.  As the Union recognized, employers increasingly view threatening behavior in the workplace as ...

The Local denied the appeal based on time limits, but the timeliness issue in this case is far from clear-cut, especially in light of the circumstances created by the pandemic.  Perhaps for that reason, the IEB's decision did not decide the appeal based on time limits and instead addressed the ...