The parties have agreed to settle Sellers's STAA claim. Accordingly, with the reservations noted above, we APPROVE the agreement and DISMISS the complaint with prejudice.
SO ORDERED.
M. CYNTHIA DOUGLASS
Chief Administrative Appeals Judge
DAVID G. DYE
Administrative Appeals Judge
[ENDNOTES]
1 49 U.S.C.A. § 31105 (West 2007).
2 29 C.F.R. Part 1978 (2006).
3 29 C.F.R. § 1978.111(d)(2).
4 See id. We note that when the ALJ's record was forwarded to the Board, it did not contain a copy of the parties' settlement agreement. Believing that the settlement had been inadvertently omitted from the record when the record was forwarded to the Board, we requested the ALJ to forward a copy of the settlement for our review. We received a copy of the settlement with a note explaining that the ALJ to whom the case had originally been assigned had died on May 10, 2007, and the case was reassigned to another ALJ who issued the R. D. & O. on May 10, 2007. The note further stated that the settlement agreement had not been received prior to the Board's request and the ALJ requested the parties to submit the settlement on July 20, 2007. Although the ALJ was required to review the settlement before approving it, we consider this to be harmless error because the Board reviews the ALJ's legal conclusions de novo, no party has objected to the ALJ's failure to review the settlement and the Board is required to issue the final decision in this case.
5 5 U.S.C.A. § 557(b) (West 1996).
6 See Roadway Express, Inc. v. Dole, 929 F.2d 1060, 1066 (5th Cir. 1991).
7 See, e.g., para. 4 of the Agreement.
8 Fish v. H & R Transfer, ARB No. 01-071, ALJ No. 00-STA-56, slip op. at 2 (ARB Apr. 30, 2003).
9 Ruud v. Westinghouse Hanford Co., ARB No. 96-087, ALJ No. 1988-ERA-33, slip op. at 6 (ARB Nov. 10, 1997); Conn. Light & Power Co. v. Sec'y, U.S. Dep't of Labor, 85 F.3d 89, 95-96 (2d Cir. 1996) (employer engaged in unlawful discrimination by restricting complainant's ability to provide regulatory agencies with information; improper "gag" provision constituted adverse employment action).
10 Phillips v. Citizens Ass'n for Sound Energy, 1991-ERA-25, slip op. at 2 (Sec'y Nov. 4, 1991).