BNSF obtains vacation of adverse labor arbitration and award

Client(s) BNSF Railway Company

Jones Day represented BNSF Railway Company in litigation to overturn adverse labor arbitration and award. The court vacated a Public Law Board award which concluded that BNSF had no right under the parties' collective bargaining agreement to bring a claim for breach of contract stemming from an unlawful strike by the ATDA. The court held that the PLB exceeded its jurisdiction in so ruling, and found that the Railway Labor Act itself provided BNSF with the right to file and progress a claim for breach of contract in arbitration. The court further held that if BNSF could demonstrate a breach of contract, it would be entitled to a remedy as a matter of law, regardless of whether damages for breach were provided for in the parties' collective bargaining agreement.

BNSF Railway Co. v. American Train Dispatchers Association, No. 4:09-cv-702-A (N.D. Tex.)