DATE: December 4, 1990
CASE NO. 91-ERA-7

IN THE MATTER OF:

JOHN J. DELCORE
    Complainant

    against

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF
ELECTRICAL WORKERS
    Respondent

Before: CHESTER SHATZ
    Administrative Law Judge

   Complainant has filed a complaint against his union, alleging retaliatory action precluded by Section 210 of the Energy Reorganization Act.

   The lower level of the Department of Labor denied the Complainant by letter dated October 16, 1990, on the grounds that the whistleblower protection provisions prohibit an employer from discriminating against an employee for engaging in protected activity and that the union was not an employer. Complainant then requested a hearing. I issued an Order to Show Cause why the complaint should not be dismissed since it

did not appear that the union was an employer (aside from the serious and doubtful question whether such union had discriminated against Complainant). Complainant thereafter filed some documentation which did not address the question posed by my Order to Show Cause.

   After a careful review of the record, including Complainant's submission and applicable law, I conclude that the complaint should be dismissed since the Respondent/union is not an employer within the meaning of the ERA anti-discrimination provisions.

   Accordingly, it is recommended that the complaint be DISMISSED.

       CHESTER SHATZ
       Boston District Chief Judge

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