1199SEIU United HealthCare Workers East v. Alaris Health at Hamilton Park

Background

The Union and Respondents Alaris Health at Hamilton Park and Confidence Management Systems were parties to a collective bargaining agreement. The agreement required payment of specified minimum wage rates and application of its terms to employees performing certain work. It required unresolved grievances to be submitted to final and binding arbitration and authorized the arbitrator to decide jurisdiction, arbitrability, remedies, damages, and certain interest issues.

The dispute began in 2013. The arbitrator issued a 2015 award finding that Respondents failed to pay contractual minimum wages, but deferred calculating damages because Respondents had not produced necessary payroll records. In a separate 2018 award, the arbitrator found that Respondents failed to apply the agreement to certain work and ordered them to stop violating the agreement, apply its terms to the affected employees, and make those employees whole. An earlier related proceeding confirmed the 2018 award and ordered production of records; Respondents were later found in contempt and sanctioned for failing to produce them.

After Respondents produced most of the needed records, the parties returned to arbitration over damages. The arbitrator issued an October 2020 damages award and a March 31, 2021 supplemental and final damages award. The March 2021 award included back pay and paid-time-off amounts for employees of Alaris and CMS, plus nine-percent annual interest on relevant sums. Respondents had not paid the amounts awarded.

The Union filed this petition on January 20, 2022, and later moved to confirm the March 2021 award. The opinion states that both Respondents were served but neither responded.

Court’s analysis

The court explained that federal courts have authority under Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act to confirm labor arbitration awards. Review is highly deferential: the court’s role is generally to determine whether the arbitrator was at least arguably interpreting and applying the collective bargaining agreement, acting within the scope of authority, and not disregarding the agreement’s plain language. The court may not replace the arbitrator’s interpretation of the facts or contract with its own.

Because the petition was unopposed, the court evaluated the petition and record in a manner similar to a motion for summary judgment. It concluded that the Union was entitled to confirmation. The arbitrator had relied on the parties’ submissions, including Respondents’ position on some damages and the Union’s undisputed calculations for the supplemental award, rather than imposing an award based on his own independent notion of fairness.

The court acknowledged that some amounts in the March 2021 award appeared to have been transcribed incorrectly or that some sums may have been omitted. It found those errors minor and insufficient to show that the award failed to derive from the collective bargaining agreement. The court also found that the arbitrator had authority under the agreement to determine damages and award appropriate remedies and interest. The prior confirmation of the 2018 award further supported the conclusion that the arbitrator had not exceeded his authority in issuing the later damages award.

Interest, fees, and disposition

The court awarded pre-judgment interest at nine percent per year on the total award from March 31, 2021, the date of the March 2021 award, through the date judgment is entered. It also awarded post-judgment interest at the rate established by federal law, calculated from the date of judgment.

The court further found attorney’s fees and costs appropriate because Respondents had not complied with the award, had repeatedly failed to provide documentation, had contributed substantially to the dispute’s duration, and had not participated in this action.

Judge Lewis J. Liman’s conclusion states that the petition was GRANTED and the award was CONFIRMED. The Union was directed to prepare a judgment against Alaris Health at Hamilton Park and Confidence Management Systems for the amounts in the March 2021 award, the specified interest, pre-judgment interest, and post-judgment interest. Respondents were also ordered to pay attorney’s fees and costs incurred in connection with the petition and motion.