Shop

Penn State University in conjunction with the National Academy of Arbitrators

Labor Arbitration–The Suspension of Nurse Kevin is an instructional film produced by the School of Labor and Employment Relations at Penn State University, in conjunction with the National Academy of Arbitrators.  Arbitration is a critical part of the American employment relations system.  Instructors know that the best way to give students an appreciation for the nuances and subtleties of the arbitration process is for them to observe a hearing.  Since most students do not have the opportunity to attend a hearing, a reenactment can be a valuable teaching tool.

Most of the arbitration films available today are dated.  Depictions of hearings set in the 1970s and 1980s are not helpful in conveying the message that arbitration can play an important role in the modern American workplace.  Using a case written and enacted by actual union and management practitioners and an experienced arbitrator, the film replicates, to the greatest degree possible, the experience of observing an arbitration hearing.  Shot in a documentary style, the film enacts an arbitration hearing involving the suspension of an employee for insubordination.