Douglas Aircraft Company, a Component of McDonnell Douglas Corporation v. National Labor Relations Board

Douglas Aircraft petitions to set aside an order of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) which refused to defer to an arbitration award establishing that a worker was not fired because of his union activities. We agree that the Board should have deferred, and we set aside its order.

Douglas Aircraft discharged McMurphy, an employee. He filed a complaint with the NLRB and his union prosecuted a grievance under the collective bargaining agreement on his behalf, both claiming that he was fired because of his union activities. The grievance was pursued to arbitration, and the arbitrator ordered reinstatement. However, he denied backpay, for two reasons: McMurphy’s pattern of abusive and uncivil conduct, and McMurphy’s refusal to agree to a settlement of his dispute worked out by the company and his union, which called for reinstatement, arbitration of the backpay issue, and withdrawal of the unfair labor practice charge.

The General Counsel of the NLRB issued a complaint alleging that the discharge was an unfair labor practice and that the arbitrator s award was repugnant to the National Labor Relations Act (“the Act”). The company and the union jointly requested the arbitrator…