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55 FLRA No. 33
AFGE, Council of Prisons Locals and U.S. Dept of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Texarkana, Texas (Marcus, Arbitrator), 0- AR-3099-001 (Decided February 11, 1999)
The Arbitrator sustained the grievance and awarded affected employees backpay. However, the Arbitrator denied the Union's request for an award of attorney fees. The Authority found the denial of the Union's request deficient, and remanded the award.
The Authority noted that the Back Pay Act confers jurisdiction on an arbitrator to consider a request for attorney fees at any time during the arbitration or within a reasonable period of time after the arbitrator's award of backpay becomes final and binding. In addition, parties can negotiate into their collective bargaining agreement time limits and other procedures to govern the filing of requests for attorney fees. In this case, unless precluded by the parties' agreement, the Arbitrator was compelled to address the merits of the Union's request, and the Arbitrator's articulated basis for denying the Union's request was inconsistent with the Back Pay Act.