Jersey Shore University Medical Center discharged a staff nurse employee for her actions when a female patient was assaulted by another patient in the nurse's assigned work area. A labor organization that represents employees at the medical center, submitted a grievance to arbitration on behalf of the discharged nurse, pursuant to the parties' collective bargaining agreement. The arbitrator issued an opinion and award which rescinded the medical center's decision to terminate the nurse and replaced it with a suspension without pay for time served. The arbitrator based his decision on a number of factual findings, including findings related to three pieces of evidence (a medical record, a record of post-incident staffing changes, and the nurse's work history) that the arbitrator excluded or never heard at the hearing.
The medical center filed an action in court to vacate the award, arguing that (1) the arbitrator disregarded certain evidentiary rulings made at the arbitration hearing and (2) the award was a "manifest disregard of the law." The medical center explained that the arbitrator's exclusion of certain pieces of evidence at the hearing and subsequent reliance on that evidence in his ruling, unreasonably prejudiced the medical center's right to a fair hearing and contradicted the arbitrator's own legal rulings. The court, however, disagreed and denied the medical center's petition to vacate the award. The court found that the medical center failed to demonstrate that any of the three evidentiary issues amounted to misconduct or prejudice. The court also found that "even if 'manifest disregard or the law' remains a viable argument in the Third Circuit in the wake of Hall Street Associates, [the medical center] has failed to meet the relevant standard." Jersey Shore University Medical Center v. Local 5058, Health Professionals & Allied Employees, AFT/AFL-CIO, Case No. 16-cv-04840 (USDC D.N.J. Mar. 16, 2017).
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