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57 FLRA No. 104
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 446 and U. S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Integrated Service (Dorsey, Arbitrator), 0-AR-3440 (Decided October 23, 2001)
Under § 7122(a) of the Statute, an award is deficient if it is contrary to any law, rule, or regulation; or it is deficient on other grounds similar to those applied by federal courts in private sector labor-management relations. After reviewing the entire record, the Authority concluded that the award was not deficient on the grounds raised in the exception and set forth in § 7122(a).
The Authority rejected the allegation that the Arbitrator exceeded his authority. In addition, to the extent that the Union argued that the Arbitrator had to abide by another arbitrator's award, the Authority rejected this claim noting that arbitration awards are not precedential and, therefore, a contention that an award conflicts with other arbitration awards provides no basis for finding an award deficient.