An employer, a manufacturer of asbestos products, adopted a rule prohibiting all smoking on company property and providing escalating disciplinary sanctions for violation of the rule. It cited its duty to provide a safe working place for its employees and recognized the significantly increased the danger of lung cancer to its employees. The union protested that the rule violated the collective bargaining agreement. An arbitrator denied the company the right to discharge those employees who continue to smoke on company property. The Court of Appeals ruled that the arbitrator acted within his proper discretion.
Local Lodge 1609, 621 F.2d 756, 104 LRRM 2985 (5th Cir. 1980).