Union Arbitration Award Successfully Vacated.

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appellate court having jurisidiction over Utah, affirmed a district court’s vacation of an arbitrator’s award in a union dispute. While acknowledging that “judicial review of arbitral decisions is among the narrowest known to law,” the Court in Air Methods Corporation v. Office and Professionl Employees International Union agreed with the trial court that the arbitrator had incorrectly awarded relief to the Union. Specifically, the court stated that the arbitration award “did not draw its essence from the [collective bargaining agreement] because it was contrary to the express language of the contract and [was] without factual support in light of the working and purpose of . . . the agreement as shown by the language, context, past practice, and negotiating history.”

This case is noteworthy because vacating an arbitrator’s award is an extremely rare occurrence.