VERMONT YANKEE NUCLEAR POWER CORPORATION,
RESPONDENT.
BEFORE: THE SECRETARY OF LABOR
FINAL ORDER OF DISMISSAL
Before me for review is the Recommended order of Dismissal
(R.O.D.) of the Administrative Law Judge issued July 11, 1991, in
this case arising under the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as
amended (ERA), 42 U.S.C. § 5851 (1988). The ALJ recommended
dismissal without prejudice on the ground that the requirements
for voluntary dismissal under Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(i) had
been satisfied.
The relevant facts, as more fully set forth in the ALJ's
R.O.D., show that on February 21, 1991, Complainant mailed a
Notice of Voluntary Dismissal to the Office of Administrative Law
Judges (OALJ), which was received by OALJ on February 22, 1991.
On February 21, 1991, Respondent hand-delivered to OALJ its
Answer to the Complaint in the case, but did not mail the Answer
[Page 2]
to Complainant until the evening of February 22, 1991, at
7:10 p.m.
1See Respondent's
Opposition to Complainant's Notice of
Dismissal at 1.
2 I do not reach the broader issue
pressed in Complainant's
Response to Respondent's Opposition at 3-5, that the filing of an
answer in an ERA case never precludes a Rule 41(a)(1)(i)
voluntary dismissal.