LV trash collector prevails in labor dispute

Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2004 | 11:11 a.m.

A federal judge in Las Vegas has ruled in favor of trash collector Republic Services in a lawsuit Teamsters Local 631 filed against the company to enforce an arbitrator's decision to rehire two workers who were fired as a result of the company's zero-tolerance drug policy.

Chief U.S. District Court Judge Philip Pro overturned an arbitrator's decision forcing the company to rehire the two workers without backpay. Pro ruled that the arbitrator's decision was beyond her authority and didn't draw from the collective bargaining agreement.

The union argued that the company had followed a practice of allowing workers who failed random drug tests to have a one-time opportunity to undergo rehabilitation and be reinstated. That occurred until the company implemented the zero-tolerance policy in January 2003. However, Pro ruled the practice wasn't expressly written in the company's collective bargaining agreement.

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