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57 FLRA No. 75
U.S. Dept. of the Navy, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division, Indian Head, Maryland and AFGE (Jascourt, Arbitrator), 0-AR-3285 (Decided July 23, 2001)
The Arbitrator determined that the Agency committed an unjustified or unwarranted personnel action when it improperly failed to award the grievant backpay with interest at step one of the grievance procedure. In addition, after reviewing the record the Arbitrator determined that attorney fees were warranted in the interest of justice. The Authority noted that the Arbitrator found that the grievant was entitled to the backpay because the Agency committed an unjustified or unwarranted personnel action. Such finding was sufficient to justify awarding attorney fees. The Authority remanded the matter to the parties for their resubmission to this Arbitrator to determine what amount of attorney fees was reasonable.
The Authority also found that the Arbitrator conducted a fair hearing. The Authority concluded that the Agency did not show that the Arbitrator was biased, and therefore, the exceptions was denied. The Authority further noted that while bias was not proved, the record showed that the relationship between the Arbitrator and the parties was strained to a degree that called into question the Arbitrator's ability to assist the parties to resolve their disputes and improve their labor-management relationship, thus, the Authority noted that if either party objected to resubmission of this matter to this Arbitrator, then the parties were directed to select a different arbitrator to determine the reasonableness of the fees sought. The Authority also found that the award was not based on nonfact, nor that it was deficient under interest of justice standard.