Willbanks v. Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. and Flight Services International, LLC (Board decision, October 14, 2015)

Plain-English summary

Sabra Willbanks brought an aviation whistleblower case involving Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings and Flight Services International. After an earlier Board ruling, Flight Services International appealed to the Fifth Circuit. Flight Services International and Willbanks then reached a settlement and asked for the case to return to an administrative law judge. The court sent the case back to the Board, which remanded it to the Office of Administrative Law Judges for settlement approval. The Board did not itself approve the agreement or rule on the underlying claim.

Decision snapshot

• Cited authority: Aviation whistleblower protection under 49 U.S.C. § 42121.
• Outcome: Case remanded to the Office of Administrative Law Judges for settlement approval; no settlement approved in this order.
• Key point: The Board returned the case for the judge to consider the parties' settlement.

Full text (DOL official public release)

U.S. Department of Labor
Administrative Review Board
200 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20210

In the Matter of:

  SABRA WILLBANKS,                                   ARB CASE NO.      16-003

                  COMPLAINANT,                       ALJ CASE NO.      2014-AIR-010

v. DATE: October 14, 2015

ATLAS AIR WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS,
INC.,
and

FLIGHT SERVICES INTERNATIONAL,
LLC,

RESPONDENTS.

BEFORE: THE ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW BOARD

Appearances:

For Respondent Flight Services International, LLC:
Jeffrey C. Londa, Esq.; Aimee B. Parsons, Esq.; Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.; Houston, Texas

For the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health as Amicus Curiae:
M. Patricia Smith, Esq.; Jennifer S. Brand, Esq.; Megan E. Guenther, Esq.; U.S.
Department of Labor, Washington, District of Columbia

Before: E. Cooper Brown, Deputy Chief Administrative Appeals Judge; and Joanne Royce, Administrative Appeals Judge; Paul M. Igasaki, Chief Administrative Appeals Judge.

ORDER OF REMAND

USDOL/OALJ REPORTER
PAGE 1
 On March 18, 2015, the Administrative Review Board (Board) issued an interlocutory ruling in this case arising under the whistleblower protection provisions of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century, 49 U.S.C.A. § 42121 (Thomson/West 2007)(AIR 21 or Act), and its implementing regulations, 29 C.F.R. Part 1979 (2014).
Respondent Flight Services International, LLC (FSI) appealed our ruling to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The Office of the Solicitor represented the Board in the proceedings before the Fifth Circuit.

On September 16, 2015, FSI filed an “Agreed Motion for Dismissal and Remand” (Motion for Dismissal) with the Fifth Circuit. The Motion for Dismissal requested remand of the case to the Office of Administrative Law Judges because FSI and Complainant Sabra Willbanks entered into a Settlement Agreement and agreed to dismissal of the case. On September 23, 2015, the Fifth Circuit granted the Motion for Dismissal and remanded the case to the Board.

On September 28, 2015, the Office of the Solicitor filed an unopposed “Motion for Remand to the Office of Administrative Law Judges for Approval of Settlement Agreement” (Motion for Remand) with the Board. The Motion for Remand states that the Office of the Solicitor has consulted with counsel for both FSI and Willbanks, and counsel for both parties have agreed to the requested remand. Accordingly, consistent with the Fifth Circuit’s order of remand, the ARB REMANDS this case to the Office of Administrative Law Judges.

SO ORDERED.

E. COOPER BROWN
Deputy Chief Administrative Appeals Judge

JOANNE ROYCE
Administrative Appeals Judge

PAUL M. IGASAKI
Chief Administrative Appeals Judge

USDOL/OALJ REPORTER
PAGE 2