Arbitrating discrimination grievances in the wake of "Gardner-Denver"

Some observers believe that the Supreme Court's 1974 ruling in Alexander versus Gardner-Denver Co. blunted the usefulness of arbitration in resolving Title VII-related grievances. The Court ruled that a worker who had lost a grievance alleging race discrimination in arbitration was not precluded from subsequently seeking recourse under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This decision countered the conventional wisdom that the decision of a labor arbitrator is final and binding upon the employer, the grievant, and the labor organization. A 1981 survey elicited responses from 659 labor attorneys to a 10-page questionnaire dealing with: 1. the Gardner-Denver decision, 2. the Court's 1981 holding in the case of Arkansas-Best Freight, and 3. the proper role of the arbitrator in relation to external law. A majority, 60.3%, of the respondents disagreed with the Gardner-Denver decision, while 71.9% of those attorneys who typically represent labor in the grievance process supported the decision. Only 28.2% of the management attorneys supported the decision. Almost 42% of the respondents agreed with the Meltzer school of thought, which says that, in conflict, the arbitrator is obliged to ''ignore the law and apply the contract.'' The Gardner-Denver decision has had little substantial effect on the arbitral process.