The two Metrobus drivers who were fired after a deadly crash and an assault conviction were reinstated by a three-person arbitration panel under a collective bargaining agreement between Metro and its largest union.
Under the deal between Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 and the transit agency, fired union employees can challenge their terminations.
First, fired employees can challenge their terminations through their union’s grievance policy. Then it goes through a multistep process, eventually landing before the panel.
There, each side is allowed to pick one arbitrator, then they agree on a third, neutral party from a board of professional arbitrators that each side previously has agreed can serve. Evidence from both sides is presented in hearings.
In both of the Metrobus cases, David Vaughn was the designated neutral arbitrator and favored the union side.
“The awards speak for themselves,” Vaughn told The Washington Examiner, declining to comment further on the decisions.
The arbitration decision is considered final and binding. The transit agency can contest the panel’s award if it violates the law, or if the agency can prove that the arbitrators exceeded their authority. Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said the agency did not believe it met those conditions.
The transit agency did contest a separate panel’s ruling last year to award the union a major wage increase. That decision remains mired in court wranglings, as legal costs run up past $1 million.
