Federal Agency Decisions
Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB), each with a plain-English summary, the law it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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Defense Depot Memphis and AFGE Local 2501
Union office grievance remanded for election of remedies finding
The union grieved restrictions on employees visiting its office after filing an unfair labor practice charge. An arbitrator found the grievance barred because the charge raised the same issue. The Authority found the record inadequate to decide whether the two proceedings actually arose from the…
VA Medical Center San Francisco and Karen O’Rourke
Nurse separation claims dismissed in part; other claims remanded
A VA nurse filed unfair labor practice charges concerning union activity and her separation during probation. On an interlocutory appeal, the Authority held that the separation claims could not proceed under the federal labor statute given the governing VA medical employee personnel law. It…
IRS Salt Lake City and NTEU
IRS ordered to provide regional discipline records
A union representing an IRS employee facing discipline requested regional records of penalties for similar tax record access allegations. The IRS supplied Salt Lake City records but withheld the broader Southwest Region records. The Authority adopted the judge’s unfair labor practice finding, with…
Defense Mapping Agency Aerospace Center and NFFE Local 1827
Telephone service change violated bargaining duty
The Defense Mapping Agency removed Class A telephone service from its graphic arts engraving division. Employees had used those telephones for personal and union related calls. The Authority adopted the judge’s finding that ending the service without giving the union a bargaining opportunity…
Department of Energy Headquarters and NTEU
Energy Department attorney unit clarified
The Energy Department challenged a regional director’s decision to include 32 GM 15 attorneys in an existing bargaining unit. The Authority found the finance section attorneys were management officials and excluded them. It upheld inclusion of the other listed attorneys. The agency’s new supervisor…
Public Health Service and AFGE Local 3430
Reconsideration of smoking area order denied
The Public Health Service sought reconsideration and a stay of an earlier unfair labor practice order involving a negotiated smoking policy at a federal occupational safety laboratory. The Authority found no extraordinary circumstances warranting reconsideration. It denied the motion and stay…
Army Transportation Center Fort Eustis and NAGE Local R4-6
Supplemental attorney fee denial upheld
After an arbitrator sustained a five day suspension grievance, the Authority struck an unsupported attorney fee award. The union later sought fees through a supplemental arbitration proceeding. The arbitrator denied that request, and the Authority rejected the union’s exception. It found that the…
Ficks Reed Company
Settlement conditionally affirmed to permit union input
Ficks Reed Company and the Secretary submitted a settlement after the authorized employee representative, a union, had elected party status. The union objected that it had not been consulted before the agreement was executed and asked the Commission not to approve it. Applying intervening…
E. Clifford Durrell & Son
Settlement reduces penalty and deletes citation items
The Commission approved a settlement between the Secretary of Labor and E. Clifford Durrell & Son. The settlement deleted one item and its penalty from Citation 1, reduced another Citation 1 penalty from $480 to $300, deleted one instance and four items from Citation 2, and required a $300 payment…
Mautz & Oren, Inc.
Remaining electrical citation withdrawn and case dismissed
The underlying case concerned a repeat citation alleging that Mautz & Oren failed to use ground-fault circuit interrupters or an assured equipment grounding conductor program at a construction site. The ALJ had affirmed the citation under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.404(b)(1)(i) and assessed a $980 penalty…
Power Fuels, Inc.
Serious hydrogen-sulfide and respirator violation affirmed
A Power Fuels truck driver was fatally overcome by hydrogen sulfide while working alone at an oil-field salt-water tank in North Dakota without a respirator. The Commission found that the evidence established exposure above the maximum peak concentration allowed by 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1000(b)(2). It…
Army Missile Command and AFGE Local 1858
Contract specialist qualification grievance denial upheld
An Army purchasing agent challenged a finding that she lacked the qualifications for a contracting specialist position. An arbitrator denied her grievance after examining the vacancy requirements and her education and experience. The Authority found that the union’s exceptions did not show the…
Army Finance and Accounting Center and AFGE Local 1411
Late arbitration reconsideration motion dismissed
The union sought reconsideration of an earlier Authority decision setting aside an arbitration award. It filed after the ten day reconsideration deadline and argued that its lawyer had been away when the decision was served. The Authority found no extraordinary reason to waive the expired limit…
Pace Construction Corp.
Serious scaffold and balcony fall hazards affirmed
A Pace Construction employee fell 30 feet from an unguarded outrigger scaffold and suffered serious injuries at a Florida construction project. The Commission affirmed that Pace failed to require safety belts and used another scaffold with unsecured planking and incomplete guardrails. It accepted…
AFGE Local 3013 and Maine Air National Guard
Military technician placement proposals partly negotiable
The union proposed six rules for filling positions at the Maine Air National Guard. The Authority found four proposals negotiable, including provisions addressing a certification list and continued use of a negotiated civilian placement plan. It found two proposals nonnegotiable because they…
AFGE National Veterans Affairs Council and VA Health Services
VA negotiability reconsideration denied
The VA sought reconsideration of an earlier decision concerning its disapproval of a provision imposed by the Federal Service Impasses Panel. The Authority found the agency’s arguments repeated its earlier position and did not show extraordinary circumstances. It denied reconsideration. The earlier…
Tinker Air Force Base and AFGE Local 916
Late suspension grievance dismissal upheld
A Tinker Air Force Base employee challenged a one day suspension through the negotiated grievance procedure. The arbitrator dismissed the grievance because it reached the second step after the agreement’s 20 day deadline. The Authority found no basis in the union’s exceptions to excuse the late…
Forest Service Council and Forest Service
Drug testing oversight proposals negotiable
The union proposed access to laboratory proficiency results and an observer for agency laboratory inspections. It also proposed union representation and notice during urine sample collection. The Authority found both proposals consistent with federal drug testing guidelines and management rights…
NAGE Local R4-26 and Langley Air Force Base
Employee benefit proposals partly negotiable
The union proposed rules on canceled leave reimbursement, pay and benefits, child care, and special function service charges at Langley Air Force Base. The Authority ordered bargaining over the leave and pay proposals and permitted portions of the remaining benefit proposals. It excluded coverage…
Norfolk Naval Aviation Depot and NAGE Local R4-83
Union steward fee award struck
An arbitrator ordered the Norfolk Naval Aviation Depot to restore two hours of leave as official time to a chief union steward. She also awarded the union attorney fees. The Authority found the fee portion unsupported by the findings required under the Back Pay Act. It struck the fee award and left…
New Cumberland Army Depot and AFGE Local 2004
Asbestos differential pay award modified to include interest
An arbitrator awarded environmental differential pay and medical examinations to employees exposed to asbestos at an Army depot. Both sides challenged parts of the award. The Authority rejected the agency’s exceptions and the union’s challenge to the backpay period. It modified the award to add…
Allen Park VA Medical Center and AFGE Local 933
Asbestos pay coverage upheld in part and held in abeyance
An arbitrator’s supplemental award extended environmental differential pay for asbestos exposure to represented wage grade employees at a VA medical center. The Authority rejected the agency’s attempt to limit relief to 65 employees named in the original award. It held the question of temporary…
Langley Air Force Base and NAGE Local R4-26
Variable schedule employee unit clarification denied
Langley Air Force Base replaced excluded temporary and intermittent employment categories with a variable schedule category. The union sought to add those employees to its existing nonappropriated fund bargaining unit through clarification. The Authority upheld dismissal of the clarification…
VA Medical Center Newington and NAGE Local R1-109
VA medical center ordered to furnish employee addresses
The union requested names and home addresses of employees in its bargaining unit at the VA medical center in Newington. The VA refused. The Authority adopted the judge’s finding that the refusal was an unfair labor practice. It ordered the VA to provide the information and post a notice.
Army Aviation Center Fort Rucker and AFGE Local 1815
Contract specialist selection grievance denial upheld
A union claimed the Army Aviation Center violated its merit placement plan when it did not select an employee for a contract specialist position. An arbitrator denied the grievance after reviewing the plan’s rating and selection provisions. The Authority found the union’s exceptions did not…
Tinker Air Force Base and AFGE Local 916
Enforced leave grievance denial upheld
A Tinker Air Force Base equipment cleaner was placed on enforced leave for 14 days after a medical restriction against chemical exposure. An arbitrator denied the employee’s grievance. The Authority rejected the union’s exceptions as insufficient to show the award was deficient. The grievance…
Army Transportation Center Fort Eustis and NAGE Local R4-6
Clarification request on suspension remedy denied
The Authority had previously upheld relief for an employee’s untimely suspension but struck an unsupported attorney fee award. The union requested clarification of that decision. The Authority found no clarification necessary and denied the request. It observed that the separate dispute over a…
Health Care Financing Administration and AFGE Local 1923
Reconsideration and stay of smoking ban order denied
The Health Care Financing Administration sought reconsideration and a stay of an earlier order finding an unlawful unilateral smoking ban. The Authority concluded that the agency had shown no extraordinary circumstances for reconsideration. It denied both the motion and stay request. The earlier…
NAGE Local R4-45 and Navy Resale Services Support Office
Disciplinary schedule proposal found nonnegotiable
The union proposed a schedule of disciplinary offenses and recommended penalties for a Navy resale office. The Authority found the proposed penalty ranges would restrict management’s right to discipline employees. It dismissed the negotiability petition. The Authority did not require bargaining…
AAFES George Air Force Base and NFFE Local 977
Mechanics commission rate award upheld
The Army and Air Force Exchange Service reduced automotive mechanics’ commission rates at George Air Force Base. An arbitrator found the change violated governing rules and the parties’ agreement, and directed the parties to review the rate evidence and reimburse any underpayment. The Authority…
INS El Paso and AFGE Border Patrol Local 1929
Accommodation arbitration award set aside
A Border Patrol employee sought reassignment and other relief for an alleged medical condition and filed a formal discrimination complaint before grieving the same matter. An arbitrator later awarded limited duty assignment priority and some backpay. The Authority held that the earlier formal…
RMI Company
Hazard-communication citation withdrawn and case dismissed
The underlying case arose after a subcontractor employee connected a respirator to a plant compressed-air line that was being purged with nitrogen and died from asphyxiation. The ALJ had affirmed a serious hazard-communication violation under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1200(h)(1)(ii) and assessed a $350…
SSA Southeastern Program Service Center and AFGE
SSA center ordered to furnish employee addresses
AFGE requested the names and home addresses of bargaining unit employees at the Social Security Administration’s Birmingham service center. The center refused. The Authority adopted the judge’s unfair labor practice finding and ordered disclosure and a notice. The decision applies the Authority’s…
NAGE and Connecticut National Guard
Performance award formula found nonnegotiable
The union proposed fixed cash award percentages tied to National Guard technician performance ratings. The Authority found the proposal inconsistent with a government wide regulation requiring higher level and budget official review of individual award determinations. It dismissed the negotiability…
Navy Resale Activity Guam and AFGE Local 1689
Navy exceptions to removal award dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
An arbitrator dismissed a Navy Exchange employee’s removal grievance but rescinded the employee’s bar from a naval station and awarded $500 related to outside employment there. The Navy challenged the latter relief. The Authority concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to review exceptions to this…
AFGE Local 1482 and Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow
Motorcycle safety proposals found nonnegotiable
The union challenged proposed rules for two and three wheeled vehicles at the Marine Corps Logistics Base. Its proposals would alter protective equipment and operating requirements. The Authority found they interfered with management’s right to set internal security practices. It dismissed the…
NTEU and Patent and Trademark Office
Performance award provision disapproval upheld
A Patent and Trademark Office agreement provision linked annual cash awards to performance ratings. The agency head disapproved part of the provision. The Authority found the disputed wording inconsistent with a government wide regulation governing award approval. It dismissed the union’s…
IRS Los Angeles District and NTEU Chapter 198
IRS ordered to recognize steward at large
The IRS refused to recognize an NTEU chapter official as steward at large in its Los Angeles District. The Authority found the refusal violated the federal labor statute despite the agency’s reading of the agreement. It ordered the IRS to recognize the steward on request and post a notice. The…
FAA El Paso and Enrique Canales
FAA reassignment found retaliatory
An FAA employee serving as a union representative filed grievances for other employees at the El Paso Flight Service Station. Management ended his administrative duties assignment after his protected activity. The Authority reversed the judge and found unlawful discrimination and interference. It…
Army Finance and Accounting Center and AFGE Local 1411
Negotiating team size complaint dismissed
The Army Finance and Accounting Center would not bargain with a union team larger than the agreed limit. The union alleged that the refusal violated its right to choose representatives. The Authority found the union had waived that right through the parties’ contractual arrangements. It dismissed…
Norfolk Naval Aviation Depot and Machinists Local Lodge 39
Shift change complaint dismissed
A Navy depot reassigned the three remaining employees on one shop’s shift under the rotation procedures in its agreement. The union alleged that ending the shift in that shop required separate impact and implementation bargaining. The Authority agreed that the depot had followed the negotiated…
NFFE Local 284 and Naval Air Engineering Center
Telephone call proposal reconsideration denied
The union sought reconsideration after the Authority dismissed its late negotiability appeal over government paid calls home during temporary duty travel. The Authority found the proposal was substantively the same as a provision the agency head had disapproved earlier. The union’s arguments did…
NTEU and Internal Revenue Service
Drug program training provisions negotiable
The Treasury Department disapproved two negotiated provisions in the IRS drug free workplace agreement. They concerned training for union officials and joint employee briefings on official time. The Authority found both provisions negotiable because they did not dictate the substance of assigned…
IFPTE Local 128 and Bureau of Reclamation
Drug testing proposals partly negotiable
The union challenged the negotiability of twelve drug testing proposals at the Bureau of Reclamation. The Authority ordered bargaining over delaying implementation until bargaining concluded, a ban on punitive use of testing, and limited administrative leave for testing. It dismissed the petition…
Matter of Tiwari
Ambiguous inference did not prove alien smuggling for gain
The Board denied the Immigration and Naturalization Service's motion to reconsider an earlier decision that terminated deportation proceedings against a respondent charged with alien smuggling for gain. The Board clarified that fact finders may draw inferences from evidence in deportation…
U.S. Customs Service and NTEU Chapter 231
Agency ordered to provide unit employee information
NTEU Chapter 231 sought the names and home addresses of employees in its bargaining unit from the U.S. Customs Service. An administrative law judge found that the agency's refusal violated federal labor law and recommended an order requiring disclosure. The Authority reviewed the judge's rulings…
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and Patent Office Professional Association
Official time changes violated bargaining duty
On remand from a federal appeals court, the Authority reconsidered the Patent and Trademark Office's changes to official time for union representatives. The agency had begun enforcing limits in an older agreement, although its practice had allowed more official time for grievance and other…
AFGE Local 12 and Department of Labor
Furlough proposal dismissed as moot
AFGE Local 12 asked the Authority to decide whether the Department of Labor had to bargain over a proposal tied to furlough notices. The union offered to withdraw its request to rescind those notices if the Department agreed not to schedule furloughs before October 16, 1990. That date passed, and…
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, South Pacific Division and NFFE Local 777
South Pacific Division election (FLRA 9-RO-00005): Review of runoff objections denied
In a runoff election for nonprofessional employees at the Army Corps of Engineers' South Pacific Division, 22 voters opposed exclusive recognition and 21 voted for NFFE Local 777. The union objected to two employees' exclusion from the runoff and to a supervisor's comments about voter eligibility…
Department of the Air Force, Maxwell Air Force Base and AFGE Local 997
Maxwell Air Force Base and AFGE Local 997 (FLRA 4-CA-80762): Smoking policy proposal required bargaining
AFGE Local 997 proposed bargaining over smoking policy during contract negotiations at Maxwell Air Force Base. The Air Force refused, arguing that the union had waived its right to bargain when it did not request negotiations after an earlier smoking plan. The Authority found that the contract's…
U.S. Department of the Army, Lexington Blue Grass Army Depot and Ronald D. Lewis
Lexington Blue Grass Army Depot and Ronald D. Lewis (FLRA 4-CA-80011): Reconsideration of bargaining remedy denied
The Authority had found that the Lexington Blue Grass Army Depot violated its bargaining duty during a reorganization and reduction in force and ordered a return to the prior conditions. The Army sought reconsideration and a stay, arguing that restoring those conditions would disrupt personnel…
Naval Air Station Oceana and NAGE Local R4-123
Employee information ordered disclosed
NAGE Local R4-123 asked Naval Air Station Oceana for the names and home addresses of the employees it represented. The station refused, arguing that privacy law barred disclosure and that the union had other ways to contact employees. On stipulated facts, the Authority applied its existing…
Federal Employees Metal Trades Council Local 831 and Long Beach Naval Shipyard
Backpay limited to employees who would have worked
Long Beach Naval Shipyard placed two groups of employees on enforced leave after departing from agreed selection procedures. An arbitrator ordered backpay and leave restoration for everyone placed on leave. The Authority agreed that the shipyard violated the agreement, but found that the Back Pay…
Keefe Earth Boring Company, Inc.
Relief from seven uncontested citation orders denied
Keefe Earth Boring Company failed to file timely notices of contest to seven citation orders issued in 1987 and 1988 involving trenching, training, and hard-hat requirements. After the Secretary began a federal penalty-collection action, the company sought relief under Federal Rule of Civil…
Tudor's Body Shop
Spray-booth sprinkler citation vacated for lack of applicability proof
Tudor's Body Shop painted vehicles in a spray booth that did not have automatic sprinklers around its filters. The Secretary cited 29 C.F.R. § 1910.107(b)(5)(iv), but did not establish that the booth was a conventional dry-type spray booth with overspray dry filters or filter rolls covered by that…
AFGE Local 898 and Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration
AFGE Local 898 and OSHA (FLRA 0-NG-1886): Office assignment criteria negotiable
OSHA planned to split its Denver Area Office between Denver and Littleton. AFGE Local 898 proposed using employee grade and time at the Denver office to resolve conflicts when employees wanted the same location. The agency called office assignment a management right, but did not file a statement of…
Virgil Alan Hickman & Sherry K. Lowe, d/b/a Al Kim Painting
$57,000 default set aside and case remanded for an answer
The Secretary issued two citations alleging 26 serious and four willful violations against Virgil Alan Hickman and Sherry K. Lowe, doing business as Al Kim Painting, with proposed penalties totaling $57,000. The ALJ entered a default after they failed to answer the complaint or respond to a…
Sacramento Air Logistics Center and AFGE Local 1857
Local bargaining added to mobility plan remedy
Sacramento Air Logistics Center implemented a new mobility plan at McClellan Air Force Base without first notifying AFGE Local 1857 and allowing bargaining over implementation and effects on employees. An administrative law judge found an unfair labor practice and recommended a cease and desist…
VA Medical Center, Long Beach and Robert L. Moore
Discharge complaint dismissed
Robert L. Moore alleged that a VA medical center in Long Beach discharged him because he sought help from a labor organization. An administrative law judge found that the agency had not violated the labor statute and recommended dismissing the complaint. Moore challenged the judge's credibility…
Ogden Air Logistics Center, Air Force Logistics Command and AFGE Local 1592
Ogden Air Logistics Center and AFGE Local 1592 (FLRA 7-CA-80270): Command ordered to allow inspection policy bargaining
AFGE Local 1592 asked Ogden Air Logistics Center to bargain over a reasonable cause requirement for inspections of government-provided property. Air Force Logistics Command told the center to wait until ground rules for midterm bargaining were in place. The Authority found the union's proposal was…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission, Board and Authority decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Authority at FLRA, the Board of Immigration Appeals, the Administrative Review Board at Labor, and the Environmental Appeals Board at EPA). These are citable as precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by the agency's Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.
- Why finality matters: Every page here says which kind of decision you are reading, so you know whether it is precedent you can cite or a final order that only shows how one judge ruled on one set of facts.
- Where they come from: Every page links the official public release from the deciding agency, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.