General Drivers V. Moog Louisville Warehouse

This case involves interpretation of a collective bargaining agreement. The agreement includes a grievance and arbitration clause which covers disputes or grievance arising from alleged violations. Defendant Moog Louisville Warehouse, Inc. ("Moog") discharged a member of the plaintiff union who protested his discharge through the procedurally defined grievance steps up to the final stage of arbitration. Moog refused the demand for arbitration, contending that the request made was untimely and therefore rendered the grievance not arbitrable. The union brought this action to compel Moog to arbitrate. The district court decided in a brief memorandum that the timeliness of filing the arbitration request was itself a question "to be determined by the arbitrator," and granted the plaintiff union judgment on the pleadings. Ne cited three cases in support of this conclusion, one from the Supreme Court, one from this circuit, and one from a district court. We conclude that it was error to compel arbitration for the reasons hereafter stated.