Stroehmann Bakeries, Inc.

L. was a truck driver for Stroehmann Bakeries, Inc. (Stroehmann) (defendant). L. often made overnight deliveries to a supermarket where W. worked. After one delivery, W. accused L. of making sexual remarks and grabbing her breasts. W. told her mother, who told the supermarket manager, who told a manager at Stroehmann. The Stroehmann managers then spoke with W. on the phone. There were apparent inconsistencies between the accounts given by the supermarket manager and W. on the phone. Even so, the Stroehmann managers later found W. to be credible. But the Stroehmann managers never asked W. about these inconsistencies. Instead, the managers confronted L., who denied the allegations. That meeting happened without a Teams Local (union) (plaintiff) representative present. The Stroehmann managers performed no further investigation, even though an agreement between Stroehmann and the union provided that further investigation would happen. Instead, there was a brief presentation of the facts to Stroehmann’s upper management before L.’s employment was terminated. The union then timely processed a grievance to arbitration. The parties disputed whether the termination was for just cause and, if not, what the proper remedy was. Specifically, the parties disputed whether there was sufficient evidence to support the termination.