Law Commons^™

Functus Officio: Does The Doctrine Apply In Labor Arbitration - Teamsters Local 312 V. Matlack, Inc., Amy Markel

Journal of Dispute Resolution

The doctrine of functus officio was developed at common law in response to concerns about the "solemnity of judgments" and the effect of outside influences on arbitrators' decisions.2 Although not strictly applied in arbitration that is conducted pursuant to the Labor Management Relations Act,3 the doctrine of functus officio prevents an arbitrator from vacating, modifying, supplementing, or correcting his award . Most courts recognize three narrow exceptions to the doctrine which allow an arbitrator to revisit his award under limited circumstances. This Note examines the application of the "clarification exception" to the doctrine in a labor dispute setting and outlines …