Opinion
21-CV-4972 (CM) 21-CV-5882 (CM)
11-09-2021
SCREEN ACTORS GUILD - AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TELEVISION AND RADIO ARTISTS, NEW YORK LOCAL, Plaintiff, v. NEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO, Defendant.
ORDER
McMahon, J.
The Court has before it the fully briefed motion to dismiss of the Defendant New York Public Radio (Dkt. 18) and the fully briefed cross-motion to compel arbitration of the Plaintiff Screen Actors Guild- American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, New York Local (Dkt. 21).
It is undisputed that under this Collective Bargaining Agreement (“CBA”), the termination of someone in a Reporter II position is not subject to the Grievance and Arbitration Procedure. But this case is about severance, and a dispute over severance is arbitrable under this CBA.
The interesting twist in this case is that the arbitrable issue - severance - turns on a question of fact - whether the employer actually had cause to terminate - that, if it arose in a dispute over Plaintiffs termination, would not be arbitrable. Unfortunately, none of the cases cited by the parties addresses this situation. I know how I think this should come out, but I will give the parties one week to direct the court's attention to any case in which the facts are similar to those in this case.