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58 FLRA No. 11
U. S. DepT. of Veterans Affairs, Ralph H. Johnson Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina and NAGE, Local R5-136, SEIU, AFL-CIO, Case No. AT-CA- 00260 (Decided September 10, 2002)
The complaint alleged that the Respondent violated § 7116(a)(1) of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute by certain statements made by management officials at a grievance meeting. The complaint also alleged that the Respondent violated § 7116(a)(1), (2), and (4) by disciplining an employee for filing a grievance and an unfair labor practice charge and violated § 7116(a)(1) and (2) by disciplining that employee for certain statements the employee made in a grievance meeting. The Judge found that the Respondent violated § 7116(a)(1) and (2) by disciplining the employee for statements made by the employee in a grievance meeting and issued a remedy.
Preliminary, the Authority noted that under § 2429.5 of its Regulations arguments that are not raised before the Judge cannot be raised on appeal. Therefore, the Authority declined to consider the Respondent's arguments regarding the timeliness of the grievance, or flagrant misconduct test. The Authority then concluded that the Respondent violated § 7116(a)(1) and (2) of the Statute by disciplining the officer. The Authority noted that the Judge correctly applied the framework established by the Authority in Letterkenny Army Depot, 35 FLRA 113 (1990) for resolving complaints of alleged discrimination in violation of § 7116(a)(2) of the Statute. The Authority modified the Judge's order by explicitly providing for interest on the award of backpay to the employee. Finally, the Authority dismissed the Respondent's claim that the Judge erred by failing to apply 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(9) because the Respondent failed to provide any support for the claim.