Tommy McGoey, leader of the Liskow & Lewis labor and employment law practice group, recently prevailed in an arbitration for a firm client which manufactures lube oil additives. The United Steelworkers Union (USW) grieved the termination of an operator trainee who was terminated for making the statement that he was going to “pop” his supervisor shortly after the supervisor counseled him about a policy violation. The USW and the grievant admitted that the grievant made the statement but contended that it was taken out of context and that he had no intention of engaging in violence against the supervisor. They claimed that the grievant meant that he was going to “pop” the supervisor with a retaliation charge. McGoey presented evidence that the employee had previously been warned against making statements that could be interpreted as threats, including testimony from another USW employee who reported the “pop” statement out of fear that the grievant might actually harm the supervisor. Noting the frequency of workplace violence incidents, the arbitrator rejected the grievant’s attempt to spin his “pop” comment and upheld the company's discharge decision over the Union’s claim that “workplace capital punishment” was not warranted.