LaGuardia USA LLC v. Unite Here Local 100

Background

LaGuardia USA LLC, identified in the caption as OTG Management at LaGuardia International Airport, petitioned to vacate—meaning cancel—a labor arbitration award. The dispute arose after LaGuardia discharged a server at a food court it managed. Unite Here Local 100 represented the discharged server under a collective bargaining agreement between LaGuardia and the union, dated November 19, 2011.

The parties submitted to arbitration the question whether LaGuardia had just cause to discharge the server and, if not, what remedy was appropriate. On September 25, 2020, the arbitrator decided that LaGuardia had not established just cause. The arbitrator changed the discharge to a time-served disciplinary suspension without pay or benefits.

LaGuardia later brought an action seeking to vacate the award, arguing that the arbitrator exceeded his authority. The union opposed the petition and requested attorney’s fees and costs.

Court’s Analysis

The court explained that federal courts give strong deference to arbitration awards and may vacate them only in unusual circumstances. In the labor context, an award must be enforced when it draws its essence from the collective bargaining agreement and is not merely based on the arbitrator’s personal policy or judgment.

LaGuardia argued that the collective bargaining agreement expressly provided discharge as a remedy for willful misconduct but did not expressly list disciplinary suspension. The court rejected that argument. The parties had specifically authorized the arbitrator to decide both whether there was just cause for discharge and what remedy should apply if there was not. The agreement also referred to progressive discipline and to an employer’s decision to discharge and/or suspend an employee. The court therefore concluded that the arbitrator acted within the authority granted by the agreement.

The court separately considered the union’s request for attorney’s fees and costs. It stated that fees generally cannot be awarded in a federal case without statutory authority, although courts may award them when a party refuses to follow an arbitration award without challenging it in court or acts in bad faith, vexatiously, wantonly, or for oppressive reasons. The union did not identify a statutory basis for fees or allege that LaGuardia refused to follow the award without first challenging it. The court also found no bad faith or similar misconduct in LaGuardia’s filing of the petition.

Disposition

Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein denied the petition to vacate the arbitration award and denied the union’s request for attorney’s fees and costs. The Clerk was directed to terminate the open petition and close the case, and the scheduled oral argument was canceled.