Social Security Administration and AFGE Local 1923 (Authority decision, May 22, 1985)

Final FLRA decision. This is a final order of the Federal Labor Relations Authority involving an arbitral award. The arbitration exclusion in 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a)(1) generally limits judicial review of Authority orders involving arbitral awards.

Plain-English summary

AFGE Local 1923 filed exceptions to an arbitration award involving the Social Security Administration. The Authority calculated April 15, 1985, as the filing deadline under the governing statute and filing rules. The union filed its exceptions on April 17. The Authority dismissed them as untimely without reaching the award's merits.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Arbitration exception deadline under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(b).
• Outcome: Union exceptions dismissed as untimely.
• Key point: The exceptions were filed two days after the deadline.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v18 p84 ]

18:0084(14)AR

The decision of the Authority follows:

18 FLRA No. 14

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES, SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
Agency

and

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 1923
Union

Case No. 0-AR-959

ORDER DISMISSING EXCEPTIONS

This case is before the Authority on exceptions to the award of Arbitrator Joseph M. Stone 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 March 11, 1985, 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 section 2425.1 of the Authority's Rules and Regulations, as amended, /2/ which amendments are applicable to exceptions pending or filed with the Authority on or after March 2, 1984, and under sections 2429.21 and 2429.22 of the Rules and Regulations, which are also applicable to computation of the time limit here involved, any exceptions to the Arbitrator's award in this case had to be filed with the Authority no later than the close of business on April 15, 1985. However the exceptions were not filed until April 17, 1985. Therefore, the exceptions were untimely filed.

Accordingly, and apart from other considerations the Union's exceptions are hereby dismissed. For the Authority. Issued, Washington, D.C., May 22, 1985 Harold D. Kessler Managing Director for Case Processing

--------------- FOOTNOTES$ ---------------

/1/ Section 7122(b) of the Statute was amended by the Civil Service Miscellaneous Amendments Act of 1983 (Pub. L. No. 98-224, Sec. 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.

/2/ 49 Fed. Reg. 22623 (1984).