« Nonmutual arbitration clause is OK | Main | Can a union assign its right to arbitrate to an employee? »
"Good cause" defined without a dictionary
May 12, 2007 by Ross Runkel at LawMemo
Arbitrator Carroll Daugherty's famous seven-part test of "just cause" has been around for many decades. Now the Ohio Supreme Court has bestowed its blessing.
Why would this even get to the supreme court of any state? Because a lower court had the interesting idea that Black's Law Dictionary's definition was the only way to go.
An arbitrator issued an award reinstating an employee who had been discharged.
The employer argued that the arbitrator improperly defined the term "good cause" in the collective bargaining agreement, asserting that only an ordinary definition such as from Black's Law Dictionary could be used.
The lower court agreed and vacated the award. [I can see all the arbitrators rolling their eyes.]
The Ohio Supreme Court cleared things up. "Good cause" was not defined in the agreement, and a law dictionary might be a poor place to find a definition of a phrase like "good cause" that has a special meaning.
Summit County v. Communication Workers (Ohio 05/09/2007)
EEOC | NLRB | Supreme Court | Employment Law Blog | Arbitration Blog | Employment Law 101
