Anthony J. English v. Burlington Northern Railroad Company

Plaintiff Anthony J. English, a former employee of defendant Burlington Northern Railroad Company (“Burlington”), appeals a summary judgment for Burlington and the denial of his petition for judicial review of an order of Public Law Board No. 3408 (the “Board”) affirming English’s discharge from employment for off-duty misconduct. We affirm.

I.

Burlington discharged English from employment on July 15, 1985, following an off-duty incident in which he assaulted one Stewart, another Burlington employee, at Stewart’s home. After English was arraigned on criminal charges stemming from the same incident, Burlington held an investigative hearing. On the advice of his attorney in the criminal matter, English chose not to testify at Burlington’s hearing. After this hearing, Burlington discharged English. Subsequently, English pled guilty to misdemeanor assault.

English appealed his discharge to the Board, pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement between his union and Burlington. The union represented English before the Board, and the union representative told him he would not be allowed to testify at the hearing, nor could he provide additional arguments to those presented to…