Attorney Tod Cochran Wins Reinstatement of SEIU Local 509-Represented Teacher

A neutral arbitrator recently agreed that an employer could not persuasively establish that an employee intended to deceive the employer by incidentally placing a co-worker’s evaluation into her professional portfolio. Attorney Tod Cochran, who argued the case for the Service Employees International Union, Local 509, persuaded the arbitrator to reinstate the teacher and make her whole.

The Arbitrator agreed with the employer that if the employee inserted the co-worker's evaluation into her own portfolio with the intent to deceive the employer, then termination would be justified. But she found the employer failed to make the necessary showing.

The case arose in June 2013 when the grievant school teacher's year-end professional portfolio included a classroom observation that was about her co-worker. As the grievant had filed several unrelated grievances against the employer during her tenure, the employer pounced on this portfolio error and fired her. The employer arguing that the teacher tried to inflate her portfolio by sneaking in these documents. The arbitrator ruled that the evidence adduced at hearing failed to meet the employer's burden of demonstrating that the grievant had the intent to deceive the employer. The Arbitrator agreed with the union and found “while it is true that the grievant’s explanations were contradictory, I am not convinced that her inability to produce a cogent account of the document’s presence required the conclusion that she intended to deceive her superiors.”

The Arbitrator ordered the employer to reinstate the employee, and make her whole for all lost wages and other benefits.