Wrongful Termination Brings Member $35,000

Dayton, Ohio

Amalgamated Local 768 recently won a substantial award in a member's wrongful termination case.

Local 768 President Gil Woods argued to the arbitrator that five-year member Nancy Burke had not exceeded the company's number of allowed absences.

Burke, a production worker at Dayton Phoenix, was on a medical restriction that limited her to working 8-hour shifts even when the company was operating on a 10-hour shift.

When she arrived late one day she followed her typical 8-hour day routine, including breaks and departure times.

The company maintained that she was told that she needed to stay another six minutes or be discharged for too many absences.

Woods, however, argued that the company did not explain this information. "Who would lose their job over six more minutes on the clock?" he asked. The arbitrator agreed.

Burke won reinstatement with all seniority, back pay and medical costs, for a total of $35,000.