Olin Corp.

Olin Corp. (defendant) and the union representing Olin’s 260 production and maintenance employees (plaintiff) had a collective-bargaining agreement under which the company could not conduct plant lockouts and union officers could not cause or permit union members to strike or stop working. One morning in December, Olin suspended two employees. Later that day, in apparent protest, 43 employees left work with medical excuses (an act referred to as a “sick out”). Salvatore Spatorico was the union president. Olin discharged Spatorico based in part on his participation in and failure to stop the sick out. Spatorico’s grievance for wrongful discharge was submitted to arbitration. The arbitrator found that a sick out had occurred, Spatorico partially caused it, Spatorico’s conduct breached the collective-bargaining agreement, and he was appropriately discharged. Furthermore, noting the unfair-labor-practice charges referred to arbitration, the arbitrator found that Olin discharged Spatorico for conduct that was specifically prohibited by contract, not for legitimate union activity. On review, the administrative law judge did not defer to the arbitrator’s finding on the statutory charges but agreed with the arbitrator nonetheless on the merits that Olin did not commit an unfair labor practice. The National Labor Relations Board (the board) reviewed the standard for deferring to an arbitral decision.