An arbitrator’s authority to award reinstatement and backpay to a union employee survives a union’s decertification, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. On July 2, 2013, the Eighth Circuit issued its decision in Midwest Div.-LSH LLC d/b/a Lee’s Summit Med. Ctr. v. Nurses United for Improved Patient Care, Docket No. 12-2229 (8th Cir., July 2, 2013), holding that an arbitrator did not exceed his authority by ordering the reinstatement of a nurse terminated without just cause and awarding her backpay, even though the National Labor Relations Board (Board) decertified the union before the arbitration hearing. Continue reading this entry at Littler's Healthcare Employment Counsel.