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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AFGE Council of Marine Corps Locals 240 and U.S. Marine Corps
AFGE Marine Corps Council 240 and Marine Corps (FLRA 0-NG-1828): Paid status condition for pagers negotiable
The Marine Corps union proposed that employees not be required to carry or answer pagers unless they were in a duty and pay status. The agency argued that the proposal conflicted with rules on unpaid on-call time and would interfere with recalling employees to work. The Authority held that the…
Patent Office Professional Association and Patent and Trademark Office
Patent Office Professional Association and Patent Office (FLRA 0-NG-1551): Signatory program proposals split
The patent examiners' union appealed the Patent and Trademark Office's objections to 19 proposals for its signatory authority program. The program lets GS-13 examiners demonstrate that they can sign agency actions on patent applications before promotion to GS-14. The Authority found many proposals…
Army Fort Eustis and National Association of Government Employees
Army Fort Eustis and NAGE (FLRA 0-AR-1975): Revised job descriptions mooted grievances
Three Fort Eustis employees grieved the accuracy of their job descriptions. Before arbitration concluded, the Army issued them a new description. The arbitrator dismissed the grievances as moot because they concerned the old description and no grievance about the new one had passed through the…
National Treasury Employees Union and USDA Food and Nutrition Service Chicago
NTEU and Food and Nutrition Service Chicago (FLRA 0-NG-1849): Leave-transfer provisions approved
The Agriculture Department disapproved two locally negotiated leave-transfer provisions. One allowed an employee to apply to receive donated leave within 366 days of a medical emergency, rather than the department's 90-day limit. The other restored unused donated leave to donors in quarter-hour…
National Treasury Employees Union and Internal Revenue Service
NTEU and IRS (FLRA 0-NG-1754): Performance evaluation provisions split
The IRS disapproved two union-negotiated rules on measuring employee performance. One would exempt union representatives from measured evaluations whenever they spent at least 80 hours on official time during a two-quarter rating period. The Authority found that absolute exemption too restrictive…
FAA Aviation Standards National Field Office Oklahoma City and NFFE Local 2097
FAA Oklahoma City and NFFE Local 2097 (FLRA 76-CA-00275): Employee address list ordered
NFFE Local 2097 asked an FAA aviation standards office in Oklahoma City for the names and home addresses of employees in its bargaining unit. The office refused. An administrative law judge found an unfair labor practice on summary judgment, and the Authority adopted that ruling under its…
VA Medical Center Fort Wayne and AFGE Local 1384
Suspension for requesting union representative overturned
A Fort Wayne VA dietetic employee asked for a union representative before meeting privately with his supervisor, soon after the employee had grieved the supervisor's treatment of him. The supervisor refused and the VA suspended the employee for three days after he left the meeting. An arbitrator…
Matter of Huete
Certified-mail receipt required for personal service
The Board reviewed the Service's appeal from an Immigration Judge's termination of deportation proceedings. The Board held that personal service of an Order to Show Cause by certified mail, return receipt requested, requires a receipt signed by the respondent or a responsible person at the…
National Park Service and NFFE Local 2015
Union employee list ordered
NFFE Local 2015 requested the names and home addresses of National Park Service employees it represented so it could communicate with them. The Park Service refused, citing the Privacy Act and other ways the union could reach employees. Applying its stated precedent at the time, the Authority held…
International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots and Panama Canal Commission
Canal Pilots union and Panama Canal Commission (FLRA 0-AR-1927): Rental car claims denied
Three Panama Canal pilots rented cars after they could not obtain valid Panamanian license plates for their own vehicles during a dispute over tax payments. The Panama Canal Commission declined to reimburse those rental costs, although it offered a daily allowance for alternative commuting. An…
Panama Canal Commission and International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots
Panama Canal Commission and Canal Pilots union (FLRA 0-AR-1830): Removal from pilot training upheld
The Panama Canal Commission removed a trainee from its ship-pilot program after he failed his first check ride. A training memorandum would have allowed a second check ride, but the arbitrator applied the parties' agreement instead and found just cause for removal from the program. The union argued…
General Motors Corporation, Electro-Motive Division
Record-access violations affirmed, willfulness reversed
General Motors denied three employee requests for medical and exposure records because the employees had pending Illinois workers' compensation claims. The Commission held that the access requirements in 29 C.F.R. § 1910.20 did not supersede or alter state workers' compensation law and did not…
Social Security Administration and AFGE
Refusal to bargain over relocation expenses violated the statute
AFGE asked the Social Security Administration to bargain during an existing contract over relocation expenses for employees selected through promotion or recruitment. The agency refused, arguing that unions could not initiate bargaining during a contract and that the agreement waived any such…
Social Security Administration, Baltimore and Boston Region, and AFGE Local 1164
Social Security Administration and AFGE Local 1164 (FLRA 1-CA-80309): Agency must provide relocation records and explain missing surveys
AFGE Local 1164 asked the Social Security Administration for space request forms and lease market surveys concerning four Massachusetts district offices that might relocate. The Authority agreed with the judge that the agency violated its duty to provide the space request forms, which it kept and…
AFGE National Border Patrol Council and Justice Department, INS, Border Patrol Western Region
AFGE National Border Patrol Council and INS Border Patrol Western Region (FLRA 0-NG-1770): Agency must bargain over shortened-detail proposals
The Border Patrol ended some officers' temporary details to McAllen, Texas before the planned 30 days. Their union proposed that the shortened details receive consideration for promotion rating points, that the agency provide time and attendance records, and that affected officers have…
Norfolk Naval Shipyard and NAGE Local R4-19
Amended suspension award set aside
An arbitrator first sustained a shipyard police officer's grievance over a 14-day suspension but conditioned backpay on weight loss and fitness activity. The Authority set that original award aside. At the union's request alone, the arbitrator then issued an amended award reducing the suspension to…
Navy Naval Base North Island and International Association of Fire Fighters Local F-33
Navy Naval Base North Island and Fire Fighters Local F-33 (FLRA 0-AR-1917): Reconsideration of arbitrability ruling denied
A union challenged an arbitrator's finding that a grievance over a Navy employee's nonselection for a supervisory fire protection inspector position was not arbitrable. The Authority had denied the union's exceptions to that award, and the union then requested reconsideration. The union argued that…
Navy Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and Philadelphia Metal Trades Council
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and Metal Trades Council (FLRA O-AR-1599): Third-shift schedule award upheld
The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard moved its Production Department third shift from a Sunday night start to a Monday night start. An arbitrator found that the change violated the collective bargaining agreement and federal work-scheduling rules, and ordered the prior schedule restored. The Navy argued…
Tri-City Electrical Contractors, Inc.
Ladder settlement approved with $100 penalty
Tri-City Electrical Contractors was cited for unsecured portable ladders, improperly constructed job-made ladders, and unguarded open-sided floors at an apartment construction project. The Commission approved a settlement in which the Secretary withdrew the unsecured-ladder item and its $300…
Air Force 343rd Combat Support Group, Eielson Air Force Base, and AFGE Local 1836
Eielson Air Force Base and AFGE Local 1836 (FLRA 9-CA-90500): Seat belt penalty complaint dismissed
Eielson Air Force Base increased the suspension of on-base driving privileges for a first seat belt offense. AFGE Local 1836 charged that the base changed the penalty without adequate bargaining. The Authority adopted the judge's finding of no violation for that first-offense change. It also held…
Patent Scaffolding Co.
Scaffold fall-protection citation withdrawn and case dismissed
The underlying case concerned an employee dismantling scaffolding from a partially guarded platform about 110 feet above the ground without a safety belt or safety net. The Secretary alleged alternative violations under the safety-net and scaffold-guardrail standards. The ALJ affirmed the…
AFGE Local 1692 and Air Force Mather Air Force Base
AFGE Local 1692 and Mather Air Force Base (FLRA 0-NG-1906): Negotiability petition dismissed without prejudice
AFGE Local 1692 petitioned for review of two proposals in bargaining with Mather Air Force Base. The Authority held that a negotiability appeal requires a current written agency allegation that a proposal is outside the duty to bargain. The agency's oral statements did not meet that rule, an…
NFFE Local 1430 and Navy Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Northern Division
NFFE Local 1430 and Navy Facilities Engineering Command (FLRA 0-NG-1769): Training and EEO proposals partly negotiable
NFFE Local 1430 proposed employee training rules and equal employment opportunity orientation at a Navy facilities command. The Authority found proposals 2 and 5 negotiable because they set eligibility procedures if the agency offered training, without requiring it to create or fund a program. It…
AFGE Local 3407 and Defense Mapping Agency, Hydrographic-Topographic
AFGE Local 3407 and Defense Mapping Agency (FLRA 0-NG-1700): Drug testing information negotiable, instructor restriction rejected
AFGE Local 3407 proposed classes explaining the Defense Mapping Agency's drug testing program and a requirement to bargain before undertaking drug interdiction responsibilities. The Authority found that giving employees information about testing was negotiable because it did not require job…
Air Force Albrook Air Force Base and National Maritime Union
Albrook Air Force Base and National Maritime Union (FLRA 0-AR-2024): Reconsideration denied after late arbitration exceptions
The National Maritime Union asked the Authority to reconsider dismissal of its exceptions to an arbitration award involving an employee's removal at Albrook Air Force Base. The union said delayed mail to Panama reduced the time it had to file and caused its late response to an order to show cause…
Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany and AFGE Local 2317
Make-up overtime remedy upheld
Six employees at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany grieved the assignment of emergency overtime to prepare jeeps for shipment. An arbitrator found that the base violated the overtime roster provisions of its agreement and awarded each grievant one additional future overtime opportunity instead of…
Labor Department and AFGE National Council of Field Labor Locals
Labor Department and AFGE Field Labor Locals (FLRA 7-CA-90697): Disciplinary records must be furnished for grievances
AFGE's council sought five years of disciplinary suspension records from the Labor Department to prepare arbitration cases for five employees. The department refused, raising concerns about the breadth of the request and employee privacy. The Authority found the records necessary for the union to…
AFGE National Council of Field Labor Locals and Labor Department, Mine Safety and Health Administration
AFGE Field Labor Locals and MSHA (FLRA 0-AR-1925): Official time for workers' compensation hearing upheld
An MSHA mine inspector used annual leave and his own car to attend a hearing on his federal workers' compensation claim. An arbitrator found that the collective bargaining agreement entitled him to official time and travel expenses, and ordered leave restored and expenses paid. MSHA argued that…
AFGE Local 1457 and Letterman Army Medical Center
Union ordered to proceed to arbitration
Letterman Army Medical Center charged AFGE Local 1457 with refusing to help select an arbitrator for a pending grievance. The Authority had first dismissed the union's exceptions to the judge's decision as late because they were mailed to its administrative law judges' office rather than its docket…
Antilles Consolidated School System and Antilles Consolidated Education Association
Antilles Consolidated School System and Education Association (FLRA 2-CA-00271): Representation complaint dismissed
The Antilles Consolidated Education Association alleged that the school system denied an employee requested union representation during an examination he believed could lead to discipline. An administrative law judge found no refusal of representation and recommended dismissal. The General Counsel…
AFGE Local 3601 and Public Health Service Indian Hospital, Claremore
AFGE Local 3601 and Claremore Indian Hospital (FLRA 0-NG-1799): Private office proposal negotiable
AFGE Local 3601 proposed a private office for the Medical Staff Quality Assurance employee at the Public Health Service's Claremore Indian Hospital. The hospital argued that the proposal restricted management's organization, work assignments, and choice of methods for providing care. On…
NTEU Chapter 61 and Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service Albany District
NTEU Chapter 61 and IRS Albany District (FLRA 0-AR-1740): Attorney advertising grievance award upheld
An IRS estate tax attorney received approval to practice law outside work but was denied permission to advertise that practice under an agency rule. An arbitrator found the blanket advertising ban violated his First Amendment rights and ordered the IRS to review the rule and let the union meet and…
Internal Revenue Service, Salt Lake City District, and NTEU
IRS Salt Lake City District and NTEU (FLRA 7-CA-90690): Operational reviews must be supplied to union
NTEU requested 1988 branch chiefs' operational reviews for groups where an IRS employee had worked in the Salt Lake City District. An administrative law judge found that the IRS's refusal to furnish the records violated its information duty. The Authority agreed that the reviews were necessary for…
General Services Administration, Region III, and AFGE Council of GSA Locals No. 236
GSA Region III and AFGE Council 236 (FLRA 2-CA-90425): Threat after labor charge violated the statute
A GSA manager told an employee that disciplinary action would follow because the employee had filed an unfair labor practice charge. An administrative law judge found the statement violated the employee's rights under the federal labor statute. GSA challenged the judge's witness credibility…
Graphics Communications International Union Local 98-L and Defense Mapping Agency
Graphics Communications Local 98-L and Defense Mapping Agency (FLRA 0-NG-1825): Limits on repeat random drug tests nonnegotiable
Graphics Communications Local 98-L proposed that Defense Mapping Agency employees who passed a random or voluntary drug test be exempt from further random tests for the rest of the calendar year. The union said the proposals would spare employees needless repeat testing. The Authority found that…
AFGE Local 1923 and Health Care Financing Administration
Late performance bonus grievance remains dismissed
A Health Care Financing Administration employee rated Excellent for 1988 did not receive a performance bonus. An arbitrator dismissed her grievance as untimely under a contract requiring filing within 20 workdays of when she reasonably should have known of the denial. The union argued that the…
Army Reserve Personnel Center and AFGE Local 900
Late reassignment grievance dismissal upheld
An Army Reserve Personnel Center employee grieved the denial of a lateral reassignment request. The arbitrator dismissed the grievance because the union filed it late at the second step of the negotiated procedure, though the employee was offered priority consideration for a future vacancy. The…
Air Force Griffiss Air Force Base and AFGE Local 2612
Griffiss Air Force Base and AFGE Local 2612 (FLRA 0-AR-1971): One-day suspension award upheld
Griffiss Air Force Base suspended an employee for one day after an arbitrator found he made false and abusive statements about coworkers. The union challenged the arbitration award, saying the arbitrator relied on a supervisor's notes that had not been properly admitted and denied a fair hearing…
Social Security Administration Office of Hearings and Appeals and AFGE Local 3615
SSA Office of Hearings and Appeals and AFGE Local 3615 (FLRA 0-AR-1970): Excellent performance rating award upheld
A Social Security Administration paralegal specialist grieved an Excellent rating for a writing task, seeking an Outstanding rating. The arbitrator found that the supervisor documented errors supporting the rating and that the union had not proved retaliation for union activity. The union…
Army Chemical and Military Police Centers, Fort McClellan, and AFGE Local 1941
Fort McClellan and AFGE Local 1941 (FLRA 0-AR-1965): No remedy required for favoritism in foreman selection
An AFGE member challenged the selection of a clothing issue foreman at Fort McClellan, alleging that a prior foreman had favored the selected employee with extra hours, training, and a favorable appraisal. The arbitrator found personal favoritism affected the process but declined to order a new…
Social Security Administration, Baltimore, and AFGE Local 1923
Social Security Administration and AFGE Local 1923 (FLRA 0-AR-1947): Reduced absence charge upheld
The Social Security Administration charged a visually impaired employee with 48 hours of absence without leave after conflicting instructions and a security notice led to confusion about his return to work. An arbitrator removed 16 hours of the charge for April 21 and 24 but upheld 32 hours for…
Veterans Administration Medical Center, Memphis, and NAGE Local R5-66
Memphis VA Medical Center and NAGE Local R5-66 (FLRA 4-CA-00035): Distrust statement after labor charge violated the statute
A supervisor at the Memphis Veterans Administration Medical Center told an employee that the employee could no longer be trusted because of participation in filing an unfair labor practice charge. An administrative law judge found the statement interfered with the employee's protected rights. The…
AFGE National Council of HUD Locals and Department of Housing and Urban Development
AFGE HUD Locals and HUD (FLRA 0-NG-1818): Three contract provisions upheld as negotiable
HUD disapproved three provisions in a negotiated agreement covering reduction-in-force competitive areas, a policy against discrimination based on sexual orientation or preference, and possible leave to care for someone with a family-like relationship to an employee. The Authority found each…
Matter of Medrano
Temporary resident status had to be terminated before deportation proceedings
The Board reviewed deportation proceedings against a Mexican respondent who had lawful temporary resident status and had been convicted of delivering cocaine in Texas. The Immigration Judge terminated the proceedings because the Immigration and Naturalization Service had not first terminated the…
Red River Army Depot and NAGE Local R14-152
Reprimand and telephone access ruling upheld
Red River Army Depot reprimanded an employee who left work without approved annual leave to take her son to a medical appointment. The arbitrator upheld the reprimand and found that the union was not entitled to an occupied conference room or a private telephone under the agreement. The union…
Boise Cascade Corporation
Commission limits judicial control of employee settlement input
Boise Cascade and the Secretary were negotiating settlement of extensive citations from a Maine pulp and paper mill when the employee union objected that it had not been included in the negotiations. The ALJ ordered that the union receive notice and be present as a silent observer at future…
Association of Civilian Technicians and Rhode Island National Guard
Late reconsideration waiver denied
The Rhode Island National Guard filed a motion to reconsider an earlier Authority negotiability decision after the filing deadline had passed. It asked for a waiver, pointing to absent staff members and alleged errors in the earlier decision. The Authority found no extraordinary circumstances…
NTEU and Social Security Administration Office of Hearings and Appeals
NTEU and SSA Office of Hearings and Appeals (FLRA 0-NG-1714): Performance and grievance provisions divided
The Social Security Administration disapproved eight provisions of an agreement with NTEU concerning performance management, discipline, and grievances. The Authority found a clause requiring appraisal against established standards based on observable performance negotiable. It rejected two clauses…
Matter of Guevara
Silence alone did not establish deportability
The Board reviewed an interlocutory appeal and held that a respondent's silence, standing alone and without other evidence in the record, could not establish alienage or deportability by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence. The Board terminated the deportation proceedings because the…
A.P. O'Horo Company, Inc.
Willful trenching and training violations affirmed
A.P. O'Horo employees were installing sewer pipe in a 10-foot-deep trench beside a heavily traveled Ohio highway when a wall collapsed and buried a pipe layer, who died several days later. The Commission found that the trench was not adequately sloped, shored, braced, or protected by the available…
Social Security Administration, Baltimore and AFGE
Social Security Administration and AFGE (FLRA 8-CA-80391): Complaint over new duties dismissed
The Social Security Administration assigned additional claims-processing tasks to representatives in its San Diego office as it phased out another position. The union proposed that the agency wait 30 days after giving written notice of the new duties before holding the representatives responsible…
Social Security Administration, Region X, and AFGE Local 3937
SSA Region X and AFGE Local 3937 (FLRA 79-CA-90694): Hiring records withheld and union bypassed
Two represented Social Security Administration employees were rated ineligible for a management analyst vacancy. AFGE Local 3937 requested application and selection records to assess possible grievances, and one employee filed a grievance through the union. The Authority found that the agency…
Internal Revenue Service, Washington and Helena District and NTEU Chapter 42
IRS Helena District and NTEU Chapter 42 (FLRA 7-CA-90206): Refusal to provide grievance records was unlawful
An IRS employee in Helena challenged her nonselection for a promotion as discriminatory. NTEU Chapter 42 asked for three managers' performance standards and appraisals concerning equal employment opportunity and related duties to help pursue her grievance. The IRS refused, arguing that the records…
Watervliet Arsenal and NAGE Local R2-98
Asbestos testing access cannot depend on union dues
Watervliet Arsenal and NAGE Local R2-98 agreed that dues-paying union members could attend a union-sponsored asbestos testing program on excused time, while nonmembers could attend only outside working hours. An administrative law judge found that the arrangement unlawfully favored union…
NFFE Local 2050 and Environmental Protection Agency
NFFE Local 2050 and EPA (FLRA 0-NG-1841): Office relocation and security proposals negotiable
NFFE Local 2050 proposed four terms for an EPA Office of Radiation Programs relocation: moving employees from a temporary basement area to windowed space after two months, garage doors with an alarm, combination locks on office doors, and private offices for specified employees. EPA alleged…
Defense Logistics Agency and AFGE Local 2144
Five-day suspension upheld
The Defense Logistics Agency suspended a contract administrator for five days after he failed to prepare a contract modification as directed and argued with a contractor. An arbitrator rejected a third charge but upheld the suspension on the two remaining charges. The union challenged the…
U.S. Customs Service, New York and National Treasury Employees Union
Customs Service and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-1929): Disciplinary reassignment remedy upheld
The Customs Service reassigned a Customs Inspector to a mail specialist position after complaints about his conduct. An arbitrator found that the reassignment was disciplinary and that the agency had failed to follow the procedures required by its collective bargaining agreement. She ordered the…
Defense Mapping Agency Aerospace Center and NFFE Local 1827
Defense Mapping Agency and NFFE Local 1827 (FLRA 0-AR-1926): Security-clearance placement grievance remanded
The Defense Mapping Agency stopped following a negotiated placement program for employees whose required security clearances had been revoked. An arbitrator denied the union's grievance after finding that the program excessively interfered with management rights. The Authority held that the…
Panama Canal Commission and International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots, Marine Division
Panama Canal Commission and pilots union (FLRA 0-AR-1623): Reconsideration of leave ruling denied
The Panama Canal Commission asked the Authority to reconsider a ruling that upheld an arbitrator's decision about leave for vessel pilots who began assignments late. The arbitrator had found that the negotiated agreement required the agency to grant leave or leave without pay, instead of placing…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3732 and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
Merchant Marine Academy (FLRA O-NG-1558): Some contract terms must be approved
The Department of Transportation disapproved nine terms negotiated by the Merchant Marine Academy and its faculty union. The Authority found that the faculty salary schedule, a deadline for decisions on proposed adverse actions, a faculty review committee for proposed removals, and one limit on…
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.