Opinion
May 6, 1985
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Stark, J.).
Judgment affirmed, with costs.
Petitioner's allegations that the arbitrator exceeded his power or made an award on a matter not submitted are without merit. The collective bargaining agreement restricted the arbitrator to the determination of procedural issues only. However, the facts clearly show that he did not pass upon the merits of respondent's decision not to reappoint petitioner as a teacher. Indeed, the few brief references in the arbitrator's opinion to the allegations of petitioner's inadequacy were made exclusively for the purpose of determining a proper award after the arbitrator found that respondent was guilty of a procedural violation of the agreement. No finding was ever made concerning whether petitioner's performance was in fact inadequate.
Moreover, we are not persuaded by petitioner's contention that the monetary award was "irrational" and that the only proper remedy here was reinstatement. Arbitrators have great discretion in fashioning remedies for aggrieved parties, and they are not bound by substantive rules of law in fixing their awards ( Matter of Silverman [ Benmor Coats], 61 N.Y.2d 299; Lentine v. Fundaro, 29 N.Y.2d 382). Under the present facts, it cannot be said that the instant award was "irrational" or that it violated any provisions of the collective bargaining agreement.
Finally, petitioner's arguments that the award was based upon a mistake of fact and that it was punitive in nature are also unpersuasive. It is well established that an arbitrator's award will not be vacated on the ground that it contains errors of law or fact ( see, Matter of Long. Is. Univ. Faculty Fedn. v. Board of Trustees, 91 A.D.2d 686, affd 60 N.Y.2d 855; Matter of Riverbay Corp. [ Local 32-E], 91 A.D.2d 509). Furthermore, the award was clearly compensatory and not punitive ( see, Board of Educ. v Niagara-Wheatfield Teachers Assn., 46 N.Y.2d 553). Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of Special Term. Titone, J.P., Mangano, Weinstein and Kunzeman, JJ., concur.