Labor Relations

Case 13-2 "Discharge for Off-Duty Conduct" on page 623.

Charles Lee worked for the United States Postal Service. On March 4, 2011 he was terminated from service. The notice stated that since he pled guilty to committing an offense/defrauding the United States his service was being terminated. The union filed a grievance within the proper amount of time requesting that he be brought back to service immediately with back pay. The United States Postal Service denied the request. The case ended up going to an arbitrator to decide.

The rules around conduct are very clear in the collective bargaining agreement. Conduct is listed in several rules. While the rules are not specific about conduct off-duty versus on-duty conduct, the rules imply proper conduct all the time. Rule 661.11 states employees in the Postal Service should perform their official duties and conduct in general in a manner that does not look badly on the Postal Service. This rule implies they should act in a respectable manner while at work and not at work. Rule 661.53 discusses unacceptable conduct. It states no employee should be involved in criminal activity, dishonest or immoral conduct. It goes on to read that conviction of a criminal activity could result in disciplinary action in addition to any penalty issued by law. Again, this rule implies that negative or illegal activity will not be tolerated while at work or off duty. The union used the word nexus several times. In this case, the word means the connection between the off-duty conduct and their employment. The union is trying to point out that the conviction of Charles Lee, while horrific, has no bearing on his work at the Postal Service. The union also pointed out several cases taken to arbitration that are similar in nature that were ruled in favor of the employees. Employees were convicted of a crime; however, their employment was maintained by the company.

Charles Lee's discipline record and work history were brought forth during the arbitration. Charles Lee had been an employee of the Postal Service for 13 years. During his employment, Lee had no discipline issues. And as a matter of fact, Charles Lee proved to be an excellent employee after he was convicted by the court system. With this in mind, the union pointed out that his conviction had no bearing on his performance at work. The arbitrator should give much consideration to Charles Lee's job performance before and,