Veterans Administration and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2400 (Authority decision, December 31, 1984)

Final FLRA decision. This is a final order dismissing exceptions to an arbitration award as untimely. Court review of an order involving an arbitration award is excluded by 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a)(1) unless the order involves an unfair labor practice under § 7116; this order does not address an unfair labor practice.

Plain-English summary

AFGE Local 2400 challenged an arbitrator's award involving the Veterans Administration. The award was dated and apparently mailed on October 2, 1984, making November 5 the deadline for exceptions. The union sent its filing to an FLRA regional office on November 21, and the national office received it on November 28. The Authority rejected the union's argument that the arbitrator's later refusal to amend the award restarted the clock, and dismissed the exceptions as untimely.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Arbitration exception deadline under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(b) and 5 C.F.R. §§ 2425.1, 2429.21, and 2429.22.
• Outcome: The union's exceptions were dismissed as untimely.
• Key point: A later refusal to amend an award does not change the date from which the exception deadline runs.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v16 p1157 ]
16:1157(149)AR

The decision of the Authority follows:

16 FLRA NO. 149

VETERANS ADMINISTRATION

Activity

and

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 2400

Union

Case No. 0-AR-884

ORDER DISMISSING EXCEPTIONS

This case is before the Authority on exceptions to the award of Arbitrator Joe D. Woodward 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 reasons stated below, it has been determined that the exceptions must be dismissed as untimely filed.

The Arbitrator's award is dated October 2, 1984, and 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 sections 2425.1, 2429.21 and 2429.22 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations, as amended, 2 any exceptions to the Arbitrator's award in this case had to be filed, i.e., received in the Authority's National Office in Washington, D.C., not later than the close of business on November 5, 1984. However, the exceptions were not received in the National Office until November 28, 1984, after having been mistakenly filed with the Authority's Atlanta Regional Office on November 21, 1984. In its submission, the Union in effect asserts that the Arbitrator's award of October 2, 1984, was interlocutory and his final action in the matter was rendered by letter of October 31, 1984. However, in the letter relied upon, the Arbitrator did nothing more than deny the Union's request that he amend [ v16 p1157 ] his October 2, 1984 award. Thus it is clear that the Arbitrator's award in this case was final and not interlocutory on October 2, 1984, and the period for the timely filing of exceptions to the award must be calculated from that date. See Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Federal Employees Metal Trades Council, AFL - CIO, 15 FLRA No. 28 (1984). Therefore, the Union's exceptions were untimely filed.

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

For the Authority.

Issued, Washington, D.C., December 31, 1984

Harold D. Kessler, Acting Executive Director/Administrator

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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, 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).