Social Security Administration and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3231 (Authority decision, August 31, 1987)

Final FLRA decision. The Authority dismisses AFGE Local 3231's exceptions to an arbitration award because they were mailed one day after the filing deadline. Under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a)(1), an 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 order does not decide an unfair labor practice.

Plain-English summary

AFGE Local 3231 filed exceptions to an arbitrator's award involving the Social Security Administration. The Authority calculated August 10, 1987, as the last day to mail or deliver them. The Postal Service postmarked the exceptions August 11. The Authority dismissed the filing as untimely without reaching the award's merits.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Arbitration exceptions filing period under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(b).
• Outcome: Exceptions dismissed as untimely.
• Key point: The mailed exceptions missed the filing deadline by one day.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v28 p794 ]
28:0794(104)AR

The decision of the Authority follows:

28 FLRA NO. 104

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

Activity

and

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 3231

Union

Case No. 0-AR-1414

ORDER DISMISSING EXCEPTIONS

This case is before the Authority on exceptions to the award of Arbitrator William J. Hannan filed by the Union pursuant to section 7122(a) of the Federal Service Labor - Management Relations Statute and section 2425.1 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations. For the reason stated below, it has been determined that the exceptions must be dismissed as untimely filed.

The Arbitrator's award is dated July 7, 1987, and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, appears to have been served on the parties by mail on the same day.

Under section 7122(b) of the Statute, as amended, 1 and section 2425.1 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations, as amended, 2 Section 2429.21 of the rules, as amended, 3 and section 2429.22 of the rules, any exceptions to the Arbitrator's award had to be either mailed to the national office of the Authority in Washington, D.C. and postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service no later than close of business on August 10, 1987 or, if filed in person, received at the Authority's national office no later than that same date if the exceptions are to be timely filed. However, the instant exceptions were postmarked August 11, 1987 and, therefore, filed at the Authority's national office on that same date.

Accordingly, as the Union's exceptions were untimely filed, they are hereby dismissed.

For the Authority.

Issued, Washington, D.C., August 31, 1987.

Harold D. Kessler
Director of Case Management

FOOTNOTES

Footnote 1 Section 7122(b) of the Statute was
amended by the Civil Service Miscellaneous Amendments Act of 1983 (Pub. L. No. 98-224, SS 4, 98 Stat. 47, 48 (1984)) to provide that the 30-day period for filing exceptions to an arbitrator's award begins on the date the award is served on the filing party.

Footnote 2 49 Fed. Reg. 22623 (1984). The
amendments to section 2425.1 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations are applicable to exceptions pending or filed with the Authority on or after March 2, 1984.

Footnote 3 51 Fed. Reg. 45751 (1986). The
amendments to section 2429.21 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations are applicable to exceptions pending or filed with the Authority on or after December 31, 1987