Attorney Jillian Ryan Convinces Arbitrator To Reverse Employee's Suspension

Thanks to collective bargaining agreements negotiated by unions, employers cannot treat employees at will and discipline or discharge them upon whim or suspicion. Just cause language in most union contracts requires an employer to establish the employee knew what s/he was supposed to do (or refrain from doing), that the employer conducted a diligent and fair investigation into the allegations, and the discipline resulting from the investigation was consistent with the disciplinary records of the employee and of other employees found to have engaged in similar conduct.

Here, Attorney Jillian Ryan showed that the City of Boston could not prove that the employee suspended for 5 days violated any expectations. The City claimed that the supervisory employee failed to respond to allegations of all threats by workers, but Attorney Ryan showed that the employee investigated the matter and determined that such threats did not occur. The arbitrator also agreed that the employee gave statements that, while inaccurate, were not made with the intent to deceive.

The arbitrator ordered the City to rescind the suspension and to make the employee whole for all lost wages and benefits.