Labor Law—Arbitration and Award—Limits to Arbitral Authority and a Standard of Review for Arbitral Awards Against Successor Employers—United Steelworkers v. United States Gypsum Co., 492 F.2d 714 (5th Cir.), cert. denied 419 U.S. 998 (1974)

In United Steelworkers v. United States Gypsum Co. the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed an arbitral award against a successor employer. In so doing, the court applied the doctrine which traditionally has governed arbitration awards against parties who have contracted to arbitrate. This note will examine the arbitral process in Gypsum against the background of the successor\u27s duty to arbitrate and the standards evolved to govern this arbitration process. It concludes that the special circumstances under which the successor employer faces arbitration require imposition of cognizable limits on the authority of the arbitrator, subject to the review of the courts. Finally, two such standards will be posited to delineate limits of the arbitrator\u27s power and to establish parameters for judicial review of arbitral awards