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60 FLRA No. 56
U. S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administration and NTEU (King, Arbitrator) 0-AR-3828 (Decided September 16, 2004)
The Arbitrator determined that the Agency violated the parties' collective bargaining agreement by scheduling a training course in a manner that required the employees to travel during non-duty hours. To remedy the violation, the Arbitrator directed the Agency to cease and desist from scheduling meetings in a manner that requires travel on non-work days and awarded the Union monetary damages. The Agency excepted only to the award of monetary damages to the Union. The Authority set aside that portion of the award noting that it violated the doctrine of sovereign immunity and was deficient as contrary to law.
The Union also argued that although there was no statutory basis for the remedy of monetary damages, the award should be remanded. In this regard, the Authority found that a remand was not warranted because only part of the remedy for the underlying violation (the remedy of monetary damages) was set aside. The other part of the Arbitrator's remedy, which directed the Agency to cease and desist from scheduling meetings in a manner that required non-workday travel when it was administratively feasible to do otherwise, remained in effect. As such, the Authority found that this was not a case in which there was an unremedied violation, and, therefore, there was no basis for a remand.