Employee and Labor Relations Chapter 12 Determine if each of the following scenarios meet “the seven tests of just cause” in an arbitration dispute. Explain your answers. Scenario 1: Angie was fired, as other employees have been, for eating a tomato and some turkey from the employer’s stock, while on her shift. This is a well-known policy and is part of orientation training and is mentioned in the employee handbook as immediate grounds for termination. The zero-tolerance policy guarantees not only that all operations are sanitary, but that no employee receives benefits that other employees, for instance, cashiers, do not. The company fully investigated the misconduct and it was viewed by a member of store team management, as well as three other witnesses. Scenario 2: Paulo was given a one-week suspension on a third warning for using foul language in front of customers at a retail clothing store. This policy is prohibited in the employee handbook and is integral to the image of a positive, family friendly brand. Paulo claims, and other employees attest, that the superviser does not regularly enforce this policy, however, for some of the younger female employees in the store. Further investigation does show that Paulo did use the language, as a customer complained. The penalty is in line with progressive discipline and is not out of scale for the offense. TEXT – Carrell, Michael & Heavrin, Christina.(2010) Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining, 10th Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall
