Social Security Administration, Mid-America Program Service Center, Kansas City, Missouri and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1336 (Authority decision, September 15, 1987)

Final FLRA decision. The Authority dismisses the union's exceptions for lack of jurisdiction because the arbitration award concerns a suspension of more than 14 days. Under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a)(1), an Authority order involving an arbitral award is generally excluded from judicial review unless it involves an unfair labor practice under 5 U.S.C. § 7116. This decision does not decide an unfair labor practice; the underlying adverse-action review route is governed by 5 U.S.C. § 7121(f).

Plain-English summary

An arbitrator, after a court remand, found that a Social Security union official's 20-workday suspension lacked just cause and ordered restoration of pay and benefits and removal of the suspension from his records. The union sought Authority review concerning other employees' official time and overtime requests that the arbitrator had declined to resolve. The Authority held that the award related to a suspension longer than 14 days, a matter listed under 5 U.S.C. § 7121(f). Section 7122(a) excludes such awards from the Authority's exception jurisdiction, so it dismissed the union's filing.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Arbitration exception jurisdiction under 5 U.S.C. §§ 7121(f) and 7122(a).
• Outcome: Union's exceptions dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
• Key point: An award relating to a suspension exceeding 14 days is outside the Authority's ordinary arbitration exception review.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v28 p955 ]
28:0955(122)AR

The decision of the Authority follows:

28 FLRA NO. 122

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
MID-AMERICA PROGRAM SERVICE CENTER
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

Activity

and

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 1336

Union

Case No. 0-AR-1378

ORDER DISMISSING EXCEPTIONS

I. Statement of the Case

This matter is before us on exceptions to the award of Arbitrator Preston J. Moore 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

By an award dated November 12, 1984, the Arbitrator dismissed a grievance on the basis that it had been filed untimely and in an improper manner. The grievance alleged that several employees, including Reginald T. Huey, the Executive Vice - President of the Union, had been improperly denied official time and overtime, and that the denial of overtime to Huey resulted in a suspension of 20 workdays. The Arbitrator dismissed the grievance on grounds of untimeliness. Huey then appealed the Arbitrator's decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The court determined that the Arbitrator erred in finding that the grievance was untimely, and reversed his decision and remanded the case to him for a hearing on the merits. Huey v. Department of Health and Human Services, 782 F.2d 1575 (Fed. Cir. 1986). [PAGE]

On May 14, 1987, the Arbitrator issued his award to which the Union has filed its exceptions. The Arbitrator stated that the issue before him was whether Huey's suspension of 20 workdays was for just cause. He found that Huey was not suspended for just cause. As his award, the Arbitrator directed the Activity to restore to Huey all benefits and money lost because of the 20-workday suspension and to remove any reference to the suspension from the files. The Arbitrator noted that the Union had also requested that certain other employees be granted official time, overtime, or compensatory time. The Arbitrator stated that he was "not going to enter into that forum with the issue being an ancillary matter in this case(,)" and that the evidence presented was insufficient for him to rule on those issues. Award at 7-8.

III. Analysis and Conclusions

We find that we are without jurisdiction to review the Union's exceptions. Section 7122(a) of the Statute provides:

Either party to arbitration under this chapter may file with the Authority an exception to any arbitrator's award pursuant to the arbitration (other than an award relating to a matter described in section 7121(f) of this title).

As relevant to this case, the matters described in section 7121(f) of the Statute include adverse actions under 5 U.S.C. 7512, such as suspensions for more than 14 days.

The Arbitrator's award in this case relates to a matter covered by section 7512, namely, the 20-workday suspension of Huey. Under section 7122(a) of the Statute, exceptions to the award may not be filed with the Authority because the award relates to a matter described in section 7121(f). See, for example, U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC), Dover, New Jersey and National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), Local 1437, 24 FLRA No. 79 (1986) (dismissing exceptions to an arbitrator's award concerning the interpretation and application of a settlement agreement under which the grievant's removal was changed to a suspension of approximately 6 months); American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1857 and Sacramento Air Logistics Center, McClellan Air Force Base, 21 FLRA No. 41 (1986). Consequently, we are without jurisdiction to review the exceptions.
[PAGE 2]

IV. Order

The Union's exceptions are dismissed.

Issued, Washington, D.C., September 15, 1987.

Jerry L. Calhoun, Chairman

Henry B. Frazier III, Member

Jean McKee, Member

FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY