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COURTS HAVE ONLY A LIMITED POWER TO REVIEW AN ARBITRATOR’S RULING; HERE SUPREME COURT SHOULD NOT HAVE FOUND THE ARBITRATOR EXCEEDED HER AUTHORITY BY ORDERING BACK PAY FOR A REINSTATED COUNTY EMPLOYEE (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court, determined the arbitrator in this employment dispute did not exceed her authority when she ordered that the employee be reinstated with back pay. The employee had been absent from work and the employer (the county) the absence a voluntary resignation. Supreme Court had affirmed the employee’s reinstatement but found the arbitrator had exceeded her authority by ordering the back pay:

… “[J]udicial review of arbitral awards is extremely limited. Pursuant to CPLR 7511 (b) (1), a court may vacate an award when it violates a strong public policy, is irrational or clearly exceeds a specifically enumerated limitation on an arbitrator’s power” … . “Outside of these narrowly circumscribed exceptions, courts lack authority to review arbitral decisions, even where an arbitrator has made an error of law or fact” … . “[I]t is well settled that an arbitrator has broad discretion to determine a dispute and fix a remedy, and that any contractual limitation on that discretion must be contained, either explicitly or incorporated by reference, in the arbitration clause itself” … .

We discern no basis to vacate the arbitrator’s award as to back pay and benefits. Notably, the CBA [collective bargaining agreement] does not contain “a specifically enumerated limitation on the arbitrator’s power” … . In fact, it does not explicitly limit the arbitrator’s authority in any way other than stating that the arbitrator does not have the power to “amend, modify or delete any provision of the CBA,” which does not set any limitations on the arbitrator’s power to order the remedy that he or she sees fit … . Matter of County of Albany (Civil Serv. Empls. Assn., Inc., Local 1000, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Albany County Local 801), 2023 NY Slip Op 01828, Third Dept 4-6-23

Practice Point: Here the arbitrator ordered a county employee reinstated with back pay. Supreme Court held the arbitrator exceeded her powers by ordering back pay. The Third Department noted the courts’ limited review powers re: arbitration rulings and found no basis for concluding the arbitrator had exceeded her powers.

 

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