Labor – Reclassification of position – Duty of fair representation

A defendant employer did not violate a collective bargaining agreement by reclassifying a plaintiff employee’s position as temporary after she accepted the job offer but before her first day on the job.

Balser v. International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine & Furniture Workers (IUE) Local 201, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 01-294-11) (34 pages) (Torruella, J.) (1st Circuit) Appealed from a decision by Sorokin, U.S.M.J., in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Mitchell J. Notis for the plaintiff-appellant; Laura M. Raisty, with whom Keith B. Muntyan and Morgan, Brown & Joy was on brief, for General Electric Company; Brian J. Rogal, with whom Angoff, Goldman, Manning, Wanger, Hynes & Dunlap was on brief, for IUE Local 201 (Docket No. 10-2488) (Nov. 16, 2011).