U.S. Army Aviation Center and Fort Rucker and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1815 (Authority decision, January 14, 1983)

Final FLRA decision. The Authority dismissed arbitration exceptions as untimely. Judicial review of an arbitration order is generally excluded by 5 U.S.C. § 7123(a)(1) unless it involves an unfair labor practice under § 7118. This order does not address an unfair labor practice.

Plain-English summary

AFGE Local 1815 challenged an arbitration award involving the Army Aviation Center at Fort Rucker. The award was dated September 1, 1982, and exceptions had to reach the Authority by September 30. The union mailed them on September 29, but they did not arrive until October 18, possibly because they were sent to an old address. The Authority said the mailing date did not control and that it could not waive the deadline, so it dismissed the exceptions.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Arbitration review under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a).
• Outcome: Union exceptions dismissed as untimely.
• Key point: Mailing before the deadline did not satisfy a rule requiring receipt by the deadline.

Full text (FLRA public release)

[ v11 p24 ]

11:0024(13)AR

The decision of the Authority follows:

11 FLRA No. 13

U.S. ARMY AVIATION CENTER
AND FORT RUCKER
(Activity)

and

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO, LOCAL 1815
(Union)

Case No. O-AR-444

ORDER DISMISSING EXCEPTIONS

This matter is before the Authority on exceptions to the award of Arbitrator Lloyd L. Byars 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 union's exceptions were untimely filed and must be dismissed on that basis.

Under section 7122(b) of the Statute and section 2425.1(b) of the Authority's Rules and Regulations, the time limit for filing an exception to an arbitration award is thirty days beginning on and including the date on the award. Additionally, under section 2429.21 of the Rules and Regulations, any such exception must be received by the Authority before the close of business on the last day of the time limit. /1/

The arbitrator's award in this case, as included in the union's submission, is dated September 1, 1982. Therefore, under the Statute and the Authority's Rules and Regulations, the union's exceptions were due in the national office of the Authority in Washington, D.C., before the close of business on September 30, 1982. However, the union's exceptions, dated September 28, 1982, were not filed in the national office until October 18, 1982. In a subsequently filed submission, in order to establish that the exceptions were delayed in the mail, the union forwarded a U.S. Postal Service certified mail receipt form showing that the subject exceptions were mailed to the Authority on September 29, 1982. However, it is well-established that the date a document is deposited in the mail is without controlling significance in timeliness determinations under the Authority's Rules and Regulations.
/2/ Additionally, in this case, the delay in delivery of the union's exceptions may have been caused by the fact that the exceptions were incorrectly addressed to the Authority's previous address rather than to the current address. In any event, and as provided in section 2429.23(d) of the Rules and Regulations, the time limit for filing exceptions to an arbitration award may not be extended or waived by the Authority.

Accordingly, as the union's exceptions were untimely filed, they are hereby dismissed. For the Authority. Issued, Washington, D.C., January 14, 1983 James J. Shepard, Executive Director

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

/1/ Section 2429.21 provides, in pertinent part:

. . . when this subchapter requires the filing of any paper, such document must be received by the Authority . . . before the close of business on the last day of the time limit, if any, for such filing . . . .

/2/ See, e.g., Department of the Navy, Consolidated Civilian Personnel Office, Naval Base Police, Pearl Harbor and Local R-12-195, International Brotherhood of Police Officers/National Association of Government Employees, 3 FLRA 471 (1980); request for reconsideration denied November 25, 1981.