Section 4 Grievance Processing and Contract Administration

• Library: Emp-Emp Law 2000

The second context in which claims of breach of the duty of fair representation arise is the area of grievance processing and contract administration. This area gives rise to the “garden variety” duty of fair representation litigation in which an individual employee or group of employees jointly sue their employer for breach of the collective bargaining agreement and their union for breach of the duty of fair representation. One typical situation in which this type of claim will arise occurs after an employee has been discharged. The employee’s collective bargaining agent either drops the grievance before arbitration or an arbitrator rules against the grieving employee. Being dissatisfied with the union’s handling of his or her grievance, the affected employee files suit against the...