The Arbitration of Employee Disloyalty Cases

Donald J. Petersen

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DOI: 10.2190/97BD-WPWE-4NEN-NQY4

Abstract

Employee acts of disloyalty toward employers have often been met by stern discipline. Generally, these acts have taken the form of starting or participating in a business which is perceived as directly competitive to that of the primary employer. Employees may also be considered "disloyal" when they request a medical leave in order to work at outside employment instead of using the time off for recuperation and/or healing. Employers have sometimes viewed moonlighting as an act of disloyalty, particularly when the outside employment is with a competitor or when it negatively impacts the employee's performance on his/her primary job. Moreover, employers have frowned upon disparaging statements leveled at the company and made public by employees. This article reviews fifty arbitration cases dealing with alleged acts of employee disloyalty in order to establish arbitral standards for dealing with such cases.

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