¶ … David Gates' arrest as a consequence of him being in possession of a significant quantity of illegal substances is intriguing when considering the context of the plant that he was working for deciding to suspend him. The fact that Gates was charged with a serious felony makes it less likely to consider that his suspension was unfair. Gates was working under a contract at the time when the company's management became acquainted with his situation and this makes it difficult for the company to go through with simply firing him. This is why the management decided to suspend him as an alternative. Even with the fact that Gates was found in possession of a quantity of drugs that made him very likely to be a drug dealer, his grievance was primarily owed to the fact that he had a written contract with the company. The overall issues associated with engaging in an attempt to appeal the company's decision was probable to represent a serious impediment for the company. Even with this, the management decided that it was imperative for it to go through with the plan and to emphasize their desire to suspend Gates.

The presence of an arbitrator would make it possible for the company to address the idea of just cause existing in these circumstances. Given that the plant emphasized its determination to keep drugs away from the company and its employees and that Gates was caught in possession of 60 pounds of marijuana,...

Gates' behavior meant that he exposed the company to a series of dangers, especially considering that he was reported to sell drugs to several individuals working there. The management is familiarized with the dangers associated with having employees under the influence of particular substances and thus considered that it would be in the firm's best interest to deny Gates access to its employees and to the company as a whole.
The stakeholders in this case are both the company and Gates, considering that the former risks having Gates deal drugs within the company if he continues to work there while the latter would lose his job as a consequence of the set of events leading to his arrest. Even in a situation involving an employee using drugs, it is in the employer's best interest to address this issue, considering the wide range of problems that such a person can cause. Gates' case is even more worrying, taking into account that he was also reported to sell illegal substances to other employees. This would basically mean that he was jeopardizing the company's functioning as a whole, not just parts of the company associated with his actual job.

The company emphasized the fact that it came across instances involving drug usage and sales and that its main intention is to keep drug dealers away from its operations. Considering the circumstances that Gates was in at the time, it would only seem normal for the company to do everything in its power in order to make sure that the plant stays drug-free. The union attempted to take blame away from Gates by highlighting the fact that there were no drugs found in…