Miss a notice step? An arbitrator might reverse your termination – here's what Iowa said
On December 3, 2025, the Iowa Court of Appeals upheld an arbitration award reinstating a Colfax officer, spotlighting collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and pre-termination notice.
The Court of Appeals of Iowa affirmed a district court ruling that kept in place an arbitrator’s award reinstating Police Officer Andrea Clark after the City of Colfax fired her. The case turned on the basics: what the collective bargaining agreement requires before severe discipline, and how much leeway arbitrators have when they apply those rules.
Here’s what happened. In April 2023, Colfax’s police chief recommended terminating Clark, and the city council agreed. Teamsters Local Union 238 grieved the decision and took the matter to binding arbitration, as the contract allowed. In January 2024, the arbitrator sided with the union, concluding termination was too harsh for the alleged rule violations and that Clark wasn’t given a meaningful chance to respond before she was shown the door. The arbitrator also read the agreement as setting out a step-by-step discipline structure – oral warning, written reprimand, suspension, demotion, discharge – with room to skip steps only if the offense was truly serious.
The city moved to vacate the award. The district court refused, granting summary judgment to the union. On appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed. The court didn’t relitigate the facts; instead, it...
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