MIDTERM

Dispute Resolution in the Workplace

Fall 2007

Answer the following questions completely:

1. Dora Dingwater and Abby Normal were friends and worked for the Global Entych Corp. Dora works for the non-union division and Abby for the unionized unit. Dora signed a pre-employment waiver. Abby's collective bargaining agreement waived litigation in favor of arbitration.. Both were women over forty years old. Dora is handicapped. Both claimed that, regardless of any other decision, that they had the right to unused vacation. In Abby's case, her union contract expired thirty days ago and is under renegotiation.

The matter went through several grievance levels and to arbitration. The arbitrator ruled against Dora. Abby wanted to go to arbitration at first but the union would not represent her case. She represented herself and lost. Both Dora and Abby brought an action to vacate the arbitrator's decision.

The arbitrator, claimed Dora, had once been in high school with one of the management team at Global.

Global is in Alabama and the arbitration took place in Alabama.

Both Abby and Dora try to file in federal court.

Spot ALL the issues and resolve them. You may assume facts not in evidence that do not contradict the fact pattern and are logical (no deus ex machina).

2. KHC is a company that is fifty years old. It has five subsidiaries in different states and supports psychological, medical research, and manufacturing units. The headquarters are in Trenton, New Jersey with an international collection of subdivisions. The company has 15,000 employees.

Using the information from the first few classes, analyze the organizational life cycle and suggest a dispute resolution model for the non-union divisions. Don't forget to give homage to Berne, Parsons, and Maslow.