Danville Area School District v. Danville Area Education Ass'n

*242 OPINION

CAPPY, Justice.

We granted allocatur to review the Commonwealth Court’s decision that vacated a labor arbitration award in favor of a retired public school teacher. For the reasons discussed below, we find that the arbitrator’s award satisfies this court’s circumscribed standard of review, the “essence test.” Therefore, we reverse the decision of the Commonwealth Court and reinstate the arbitrator’s award.

On May 13, 1992, Judith Walter, a teacher who served the Danville Area School District (“School District”) for twenty-four years, notified the School District of her plan to retire,…