Commonwealth, Department of Corrections, State Correctional Institution at Forest v. Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Ass'n

OPINION BY

JUDGE BROBSON

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (Department) petitions for review of a decision of an arbitrator, dated February 7, 2017, that reduced the Department’s sanctioning of Barry Robinson (Grievant), a corrections officer employed by the Department, from a discharge to a disciplinary suspension followed by reinstatement. For the reasons set forth below, we vacate the award.

I. BACKGROUND

Grievant worked as a corrections officer at the State Correctional Institution at Forest (SCI-Forest), starting October 24, 2004. During the incidents that gave rise to this appeal,…