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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Ogden Air Logistics Center and AFGE Local 1592
Local mobility team bargaining complaint dismissed
AFGE Local 1592 asked Ogden Air Logistics Center to bargain over how employees were selected for a mobility team. The center refused, and the union alleged an unfair labor practice. The Authority found that the employees belonged to a nationwide bargaining unit represented by AFGE through Council…
U.S. Border Patrol, El Paso and AFGE National Border Patrol Council
El Paso Border Patrol and AFGE National Border Patrol Council (FLRA 6-CA-90534): Vehicle cleaning change required bargaining
Border Patrol agents at the Fabens station had regularly used a commercial service to clean their assigned vehicles at government expense. The agency stopped that practice for five months without advance notice or bargaining with the union. An administrative law judge found the effect too small to…
U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, El Paso District Office and AFGE Local 1210
INS El Paso District Office and AFGE Local 1210 (FLRA 6-CA-70213): Reconsideration narrows remedy for unilateral changes
The Authority had found that the INS El Paso District Office unlawfully changed working conditions through several memoranda without proper notice and bargaining. The office sought reconsideration of the violations and the remedy. The Authority left its violation findings and decision to require a…
Public Health Service, CDC, NIOSH and AFGE Local 3430
Smoking area orders violated bargaining rights
AFGE Local 3430 negotiated designated smoking areas with a NIOSH laboratory in Morgantown, West Virginia. The Public Health Service disapproved a contract provision on that subject and later directed the areas to be discontinued despite a memorandum of understanding between NIOSH and the union. The…
IBEW Local 532 and Bureau of Reclamation
Signing bonus excluded from prevailing wage calculation
IBEW Local 532 and the Bureau of Reclamation surveyed four companies to set prevailing wage rates for covered employees. One company paid a cash signing bonus, and the union wanted that bonus included in the company's base wage rate used for the calculation. The Authority found that pay practices…
NFFE Local 241 and Chemawa Indian Boarding School
Earlier grievance can proceed despite later unfair labor practice charge
The Chemawa Indian Boarding School placed employees in nonpay status during the summer of 1989. Their union filed a grievance challenging the furloughs, then filed an unfair labor practice charge about the agency's treatment of the union president and its failure to bargain. An arbitrator dismissed…
Federal Bureau of Prisons, Lewisburg and AFGE Local 148 C-33
Lewisburg Penitentiary and AFGE Local 148 C-33 (FLRA 0-AR-1867): Supervisor's reprimand may not be given to employee
A correctional officer at Lewisburg Penitentiary repeatedly asked to leave his post after his shift so he could eat and take medication for diabetes. His supervisor refused, and the officer later collapsed. An arbitrator found that the agency violated its agreement and ordered an apology, a…
National Weather Service Employees Organization and National Weather Service
National Weather Service Employees Organization (FLRA 0-NG-1871): Bargaining required on furlough pay proposal
The National Weather Service union proposed retroactive pay for employees furloughed during a lapse in funding or budget sequestration, if later appropriations and the law permitted payment. The agency called the proposal nonnegotiable but filed no position with the Authority. The Authority held…
Ogden Air Logistics Center and AFGE Local 1592
Reduced suspension upheld
An employee at Hill Air Force Base lost his driver's license after an off-duty conviction, affecting work that required driving. The agency imposed a 14-day suspension. An arbitrator found that the agency had waited beyond the contract's 45-day period to discipline him for the license revocation…
Matter of Hernandez-Casillas
Attorney General disapproved broad section 212(c) waiver and remanded
The Board initially held that a lawful permanent resident charged with entering the United States without inspection could seek a section 212(c) waiver, and it remanded the case for further proceedings. The Attorney General reviewed that decision and disapproved the Board's broad expansion of…
E. L. Jones and Son, Inc.
Serious elevator-shaft guarding violation affirmed
A subcontractor employee suffered fatal injuries after falling 35 feet through an unguarded elevator-shaft opening at a Texas office-building project where E. L. Jones and Son was the general contractor. Jones conceded that the opening violated 29 C.F.R. § 1926.500(b)(1) but disputed knowledge and…
NFFE Local 341 and Wapato Irrigation Project
Bargaining required on proposed reduction in force limit
The union at the Wapato Irrigation Project proposed barring a reduction in force used to change employees from full-time to seasonal status. The agency said the proposal conflicted with management rights and its labor agreement. The Authority held that the proposal concerned a negotiable employment…
AFGE Local 3457 and Minerals Management Service
Drug testing compliance proposal requires bargaining
A union proposed that the Minerals Management Service run its employee drug testing program in strict compliance with applicable law and regulation. The agency argued that the proposal conflicted with a federal drug testing order and interfered with its control over internal security. The Authority…
AFGE Local 2031 and VA Medical Center Cincinnati
Training rotation rejected, shuttle question unresolved
The Cincinnati VA Medical Center planned to send medical supply technicians to its Fort Thomas facility for five consecutive workdays to learn the assignment. The union proposed limiting each technician's time there to one day per week and providing shuttle transportation between the facilities…
AFGE Local 1923 and Health Care Financing Administration
Rehabilitated employees may be considered for positions
A union proposed two rules for employees who had used illegal drugs and participated in rehabilitation. One barred automatic exclusion of qualified, successfully rehabilitated applicants from consideration for sensitive jobs; the other called for efforts to keep a voluntarily self-reporting…
NFFE Local 1482 and Defense Mapping Agency Louisville
NFFE Local 1482 and Defense Mapping Agency (FLRA 0-NG-1780): Quality control proposal rejected, backup procedure negotiable
A union proposed changes to a Defense Mapping Agency program that checks map sheets and a procedure for naming employees as temporary supervisory backups. The Authority rejected the quality control proposal because it would bar assigning certain review work to unit employees and bar using review…
AFGE Department of Education Council and Department of Education
AFGE Education Council and Department of Education (FLRA 0-NG-1595): Drug testing safeguards remain negotiable
The Department of Education sought reconsideration of an Authority ruling that two union drug testing proposals were negotiable. One called for the program to comply with law and the agreement; the other called for sanitary, secluded urine collection with employee privacy. The department argued…
Norfolk Naval Shipyard and NAGE Local R4-19
Reconsideration of amended award ruling denied
The Authority had set aside an arbitrator's amended award concerning a shipyard employee's suspension because only the union had asked the arbitrator to reopen the case. The union sought reconsideration, arguing that the ruling left the employee without a remedy and that its agreement permitted a…
IRS Cincinnati and NTEU Chapter 9
Competitive placement remedy upheld
The IRS placed a former supervisor into a posted bargaining unit job without competition, although three unit employees had applied. An arbitrator found that the agency violated its agreement and ordered priority consideration for the highest-ranked applicant at the next suitable vacancy. The…
Delaware National Guard and Association of Civilian Technicians
Delaware National Guard and Civilian Technicians (FLRA 0-AR-1895): Promotion rescission remedy removed
The Delaware National Guard posted military and civilian technician vacancies at the same time. An arbitrator found that this violated the parties' agreement, which required first considering bargaining unit applicants. The Authority upheld the contract-based announcement and selection procedures…
Overseas Education Association and DOD Dependents Schools
Attorney fee award returned for detailed findings
A union won a grievance over a one-day suspension of a teacher at a Defense Department school in Korea and sought attorney fees. The arbitrator awarded some fees but cut one attorney's hours without detailed reasons, denied time spent on an alternative constitutional argument and supervisory legal…
Red River Army Depot and NAGE Local R14-52
Attorney fee request remanded
An Army depot employee won a grievance seeking a cash award for an outstanding performance rating. The union then sought attorney fees, but the arbitrator denied them, in part because the labor agreement did not expressly authorize fees. The Authority held that the Back Pay Act itself allowed the…
Naval Mine Warfare Engineering Activity and NAGE Local R4-97
Union official time limits upheld
A Navy facility denied its union vice president use of official time allotted to the union president after she exhausted the hours allotted to other officers. An arbitrator read the parties' agreement as establishing separate banks of time and denied the grievance. The Authority upheld that…
VA Medical Center Leavenworth and AFGE Local 85
Asbestos pay reconsideration denied
An arbitrator awarded environmental differential pay for qualifying employees exposed to airborne asbestos at VA facilities in Leavenworth. The VA sought reconsideration of an Authority decision that upheld coverage for eligible employees of the medical center, canteen service, and cemeteries. It…
Fort Bragg and AFGE Local 1770
Five-day suspension upheld
A Fort Bragg employee was suspended for five days after a disrespectful exchange with her supervisor during a meeting under the agency's open-door policy. An arbitrator denied her grievance. The union argued that the discussion was protected and that the suspension treated her differently from male…
Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow and AFGE Local 1482
1991 bargaining order later reversed
The Marine Corps Logistics Base in Barstow changed performance appraisal standards and a production reporting system without first bargaining with the union over how the changes would be carried out. The Authority adopted an administrative law judge's finding that the base committed an unfair labor…
Griffiss Air Force Base and AFGE Local 2612
Dismissal of smoking area grievance upheld
A union grieved the elimination of smoking areas at Griffiss Air Force Base. It then refused to attend the scheduled arbitration hearing over a dispute about the location. The arbitrator proceeded without the union and dismissed the grievance, finding that the union was trying to reopen a smoking…
Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany and AFGE
1991 details order later reversed
The Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany detailed four employees to different duties for 120 days, telling a union steward only as the details began. An administrative law judge found that the changes warranted bargaining over their impact and implementation, and that the union had not waived that…
NFFE Local 1655 and Department of Military Affairs Illinois
NFFE Local 1655 and Illinois Military Affairs (FLRA 0-NG-1756): One information proposal requires bargaining
A union offered eight proposals about access to agency information and employees' protection from personal lawsuits. The Authority found one negotiable: the agency could not refuse a lawful information request solely because an employee might also provide the information. It rejected blanket…
Navy Resale Activity Guam and AFGE Local 1689
Union exceptions dismissed as late
The union challenged an arbitration award involving the Navy Resale Activity in Guam. The Authority first rescinded an earlier dismissal because the union had timely answered a show-cause order. It still dismissed the exceptions because they were mailed after the filing deadline. The award was…
Fort Rucker Aviation Center and AFGE Local 1815
Late pay grievance remains dismissed
A Fort Rucker employee claimed that she performed higher-graded duties for 23 months but received higher pay for only four of them. An arbitrator dismissed her grievance as untimely under the labor agreement's filing deadline. The union argued that the employee learned of her Back Pay Act rights…
Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Tidewater Virginia Federal Employees Metal Trades Council
Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Tidewater Metal Trades Council (FLRA 0-AR-1963): Reprimand and unpaid absence upheld
A shipyard employee received four hours of official time for union business, then stayed away from work for four more hours after his supervisor denied an extension. The agency treated the additional time as unauthorized unpaid leave and issued a reprimand. An arbitrator upheld those actions, and…
AFGE National Veterans Affairs Council and VA Veterans Health Services
AFGE National VA Council and Veterans Health Services (FLRA 0-NG-1827): Untimely agency disapproval ends appeal
The Federal Service Impasses Panel imposed a contract provision on the VA and its union. The VA's medical director tried to disapprove it, and the union petitioned for a negotiability ruling. The Authority found that the agency had 30 days after the Panel decision to serve any disapproval, a period…
Ormet Corporation
Crane warning-signal violation affirmed after fatal billet fall
Ormet Corporation used an overhead crane to move large aluminum billets to an inspection table at its Ohio smelter. A load fell after a billet struck the table, and one billet struck and killed an employee who had moved several feet away. The Commission affirmed a serious violation of 29 C.F.R. §…
FAA Decatur Air Traffic Control Tower and National Air Traffic Controllers Association
FAA Decatur Tower and Air Traffic Controllers Association (FLRA 0-AR-2002): Appraisal rating remains fully successful
An air traffic controller challenged comments and the overall rating in her performance appraisal. An arbitrator found some negative comments unfair and ordered those portions removed, but found no evidence supporting an increase from “fully successful” to “exceptional.” The union argued that the…
AFGE Local 2145 and VA Medical Center Richmond
Career-ladder promotion grievance remanded
A dietetic technician at the Richmond VA Medical Center grieved the denial of a promotion from GS-5 to GS-6. The arbitrator found that the agency had not substantiated its reasons for withholding the promotion, but denied the grievance because he believed a court decision barred him from…
Defense Logistics Agency Defense Depot Tracy and Laborers' International Union Local 1276
Defense Depot Tracy and Laborers Local 1276 (FLRA 9-CA-90366, 9-CA-90429): Employee assistance changes required bargaining
Defense Depot Tracy contracted out its employee assistance program, replacing in-person intake with a telephone contact process and ending new peer counselor assignments. The Authority found those changes had more than a minimal foreseeable effect on employees, so the depot violated the labor…
U.S. Army Fort Campbell and AFGE Local 2022
Army Fort Campbell and AFGE Local 2022 (FLRA 0-AR-2047): Written admonishment upheld
Fort Campbell issued a written admonishment to a maintenance employee after a resident complained that he behaved rudely while repairing her air conditioner. An arbitrator credited the resident's written account and denied the employee's grievance. The union argued that using the statement without…
FAA Springfield and National Air Traffic Controllers Association
FAA Springfield and Air Traffic Controllers Association (FLRA 0-AR-1991): Annual leave for familiarization trip stands
An air traffic controller took a familiarization trip to another control tower while he had approved annual leave. The FAA treated the trip as outside duty status and charged annual leave for the affected workdays. The arbitrator denied the union's grievance because the controller had not requested…
Charleston Naval Shipyard and Federal Employees Metal Trades Council
Charleston Naval Shipyard and Metal Trades Council (FLRA 0-AR-1961): Hazard pay for ballast tank painters upheld
Painters at the Charleston Naval Shipyard sandblasted and painted the inside of submarine ballast tanks. An arbitrator found that about half their tank work exposed them to unusually severe hazards from unsure footing, inadequate protection, or darkness. He awarded a 25 percent environmental pay…
Mare Island Naval Shipyard and IFPTE Local 25
Employee address disclosure ordered
IFPTE Local 25 asked Mare Island Naval Shipyard for the names and home addresses of the employees it represented. The shipyard refused, arguing that privacy law barred disclosure and that the union could reach employees at work. Applying its stated precedent at the time, the Authority held that the…
Defense Mapping Agency Louisville Office and NFFE Local 1482
Defense Mapping Agency Louisville and NFFE Local 1482 (FLRA 4-CU-80021-2): Unit clarification petition stays dismissed
The union sought to add cartographer project leaders to an existing bargaining unit by clarifying its certification. Those positions had been specifically excluded by agreement before an earlier representation election. On remand, the regional director found no meaningful change in their duties…
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and National Treasury Employees Union
PBGC and NTEU (FLRA 3-CA-90456): 1991 retaliation finding later reversed
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation discharged attorney David Power, who was president of a union chapter, for alleged misconduct. The Authority disagreed with an administrative law judge who had dismissed the union's retaliation complaint. It found that officials hostile to Power's union…
Langley Air Force Base and NAGE Locals R4-26 and R4-106
Langley Air Force Base and NAGE locals (FLRA 3-CA-00024): Agency ordered to arbitrate separation grievance
The NAGE locals sought arbitration of a Langley Air Force Base employee's separation grievance. The Air Force refused, arguing that separation actions were excluded from the negotiated grievance procedure. The Authority held that unresolved questions about a grievance's arbitrability must…
NFFE Local 284 and Naval Air Engineering Center Lakehurst
Phone-call proposal appeal filed too late
The union negotiated a provision allowing employees on temporary duty to make government-paid calls home on arrival and after travel plans changed. The agency head disapproved it in June 1990, but the union did not appeal then. In September, the union submitted a materially identical phone-call…
NFFE Local 858 and Federal Crop Insurance Corporation
Two promotion provisions negotiable
The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation disapproved two union-negotiated provisions about promotions and job applications. One treated a fully successful rating as showing potential for the next grade in a career ladder. The other prevented the agency from requiring applicants to submit its…
AFGE Council 236 and General Services Administration Region 9
AFGE Council 236 and GSA Region 9 (FLRA 0-AR-1993): Suspension exceptions dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
GSA suspended a union representative for 30 days for unauthorized use of a government vehicle. An arbitrator found some discipline justified but reduced the suspension to 10 days. The union asked the Authority to review that reduced penalty and the arbitrator's treatment of union representational…
Griffiss Air Force Base and AFGE Local 2612
Union commitments enforced
Griffiss Air Force Base grieved the union's refusal to honor agreements made by its authorized representatives about work schedules, office relocation, a smoking area, and a drafting-section change. The arbitrator found that union officials had consented to the changes and that the union's later…
Milliken & Company
Cotton-dust exposure and respirator items vacated for lack of knowledge
OSHA sampling at Milliken's Georgia textile plant showed second-shift cotton-dust exposure above the permissible limit in 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1043(c)(1). The Commission accepted the ALJ's finding that OSHA's vertical-elutriator sampling was substantially accurate. It nevertheless vacated the exposure…
AFGE Local 738 and Army Combined Arms Center Fort Leavenworth
AFGE Local 738 and Army Fort Leavenworth (FLRA 0-NG-1844): Promotion pool restriction nonnegotiable
AFGE Local 738 proposed that Fort Leavenworth fill positions created or upgraded during reorganizations through competition among qualified bargaining-unit employees. The Authority held that the proposal remained a live issue for future reorganizations, even though the two positions prompting it…
Army Fort Rucker and AFGE Local 1815
Veteran promotion preference claim denied
A disabled Vietnam-era veteran applied for a GS-5 budget analyst promotion at Fort Rucker and was not selected. Her union argued that the Army failed to give her the advancement consideration required by law and that its disabled-veterans plan was inadequate. An arbitrator denied the grievance…
Army Combined Arms Center Fort Leavenworth and AFGE Local 738
Army Fort Leavenworth and AFGE Local 738 (FLRA 0-AR-1966): Civilian selection after military waiver upheld
Fort Leavenworth selected an active-duty military member for a civilian program administrator job, contingent on a waiver of the waiting period after military retirement. Another candidate grieved, arguing that the Army improperly held the position open for the selectee and failed to consider her…
Matter of Scandinavian Airlines Flight #SK 911
$8,000 fine upheld for passengers without visas
The Board reviewed Scandinavian Airlines' appeal from $8,000 in administrative fines for bringing eight passengers to the United States without the required visas. The carrier argued that the passengers had presented Sudanese passports containing unexpired United States visas when they first…
Monfort of Colorado, Inc.
Willful refusal to provide injury logs affirmed
A former employee requested copies of Monfort's OSHA 200 injury and illness logs for the meat-packing plant where she had worked. Monfort knowingly denied the request, first calling it a union request and later arguing that disclosure would violate federal labor law and its Fourth Amendment privacy…
AFGE Local 2062 and VA New Orleans Regional Office
AFGE Local 2062 and VA New Orleans (FLRA 0-NG-1816): Mandatory performance target cut rejected
The VA changed how it credited New Orleans rating specialists for processing disability claims. AFGE Local 2062 proposed lowering their performance standards by two percent to offset the reduced credit. The Authority found that requiring a particular adjustment to performance standards interfered…
National Treasury Employees Union and FDIC Chicago Region
NTEU and FDIC Chicago Region (FLRA 0-NG-1762): Probation procedures rejected, travel allowance approved
The FDIC disapproved two provisions in an agreement with the National Treasury Employees Union. The first would have given probationary employees advance reasons and a chance to respond before a removal recommendation. The Authority found those procedures exceeded the protections set by federal…
Department of Defense Dependents Schools Germany Region and Overseas Education Association
Defense Dependents Schools Germany and Overseas Education Association (FLRA 0-AR-1997): Teacher removal exception dismissed
A Defense Dependents Schools teacher was removed for unacceptable performance. An arbitrator held her grievance arbitrable but denied it on the merits. The agency asked the Authority to overturn the arbitrability ruling, arguing that the teacher could not challenge removal through the negotiated…
AFGE Council of Marine Corps Locals 240 and U.S. Marine Corps
AFGE Marine Corps Council 240 and Marine Corps (FLRA 0-NG-1836): Temporary employee grievance proposal rejected
The Marine Corps union proposed allowing temporary employees to grieve discipline and performance actions, including removal and long suspensions. The union said it meant to cover longer-term employees, but the proposal itself referred to temporary employees without that limit. The Authority held…
U.S. Customs Service and National Treasury Employees Union
Customs Service and NTEU (FLRA 9-CA-90211): Clarified arbitration award enforced
An arbitrator replaced a Customs Service employee's removal with a 30-day suspension and demotion to GS-7, then clarified that the proper step was GS-7 step 10. Customs returned him at step 1 and declined to implement the clarification. The Authority held that the clarified award had become final…
NAGE Local R1-100 and Naval Submarine Base New London
Guard saluting proposals rejected
Civilian guards at Naval Submarine Base New London were assigned to salute vehicles bearing blue officer stickers. The union proposed that guards salute only commissioned officers who showed identification, and not others driving blue-stickered vehicles. The Authority held that the proposals would…
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.