Anniston Army Depot and AFGE Local 1945 (Authority decision, June 23, 1987)

Final FLRA decision. The Authority denies the union's exception to an arbitration award reducing an employee's suspension from ten days to five days. Under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a)(1), orders involving arbitral awards are generally excluded from judicial review unless they involve an unfair labor practice under 5 U.S.C. § 7116. This decision does not state that it involves one.

Plain-English summary

An Anniston Army Depot employee challenged a ten-day suspension under the parties' agreement. The arbitrator found cause for discipline but reduced the penalty to five days. AFGE Local 1945 argued that the award rested on a gross factual mistake. The Authority found that the union's exception did not establish a ground for setting aside the award and denied it. The five-day suspension remained in place.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Arbitration review under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a).
• Outcome: Union exception denied; reduced five-day suspension stands.
• Key point: Disagreement with the arbitrator's factual findings did not show a deficient award.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v27 p465 ]

27:0465(67)AR

The decision of the Authority follows:

27 FLRA No. 67

ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT,
ANNISTON, ALABAMA
Activity

and

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 1945
Union

Case No. 0-AR-1353

DECISION

I. Statement of the Case

This matter is before the Authority on an exception to the award of Arbitrator J. Thomas Rimer filed by the Union under section 7122(a) of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute) and part 2425 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations.

II. Background and Arbitrator's Award

The Arbitrator stated that the issue in this case was whether the 10-day suspension of the grievant was for proper cause under the agreement. As his award, the Arbitrator sustained the grievance in part. He determined that a disciplinary suspension of the grievant was for proper cause, but reduced the suspension to 5 days.

III. Discussion and Conclusion

The Union contends that the award is based on a gross mistake of fact.

We conclude that the Union has failed to establish that the Arbitrator's award is deficient on any of the grounds set forth in section 7122(a) of the Statute; that is, that the award is contrary to any law, rule, or regulation, or that the award is deficient on other grounds similar to those applied by federal courts in private sector labor-management relations cases. See, for example, Federal Correctional Institution, Petersburg, Virginia and American Federation of Government Employees, Local No. 2502, Petersburg, Virginia, 13 FLRA 108 (1983) (the union's exception that the award finding just cause for the grievant's suspension was based on a nonfact was denied; the Authority concluded that the exception provided no basis for finding the award deficient, because the exception was an attempt to relitigate the merits of the case and constituted nothing more than disagreement with the arbitrator's findings of fact, his reasoning and conclusions, and his interpretation and application of the parties' collective bargaining agreement). Accordingly, the Union's exception is denied.

Issued, Washington, D.C., June 23, 1987.
/s/ Jerry L. Calhoun, Chairman
/s/ Henry B. Frazier III, Member
/s/ Jean McKee, Member
FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY