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55 FLRA No. 146
NAGE, Local R3-10 and U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration Washington, D.C., Case No. 0-NG-2284 (Decided September 24, 1999)
This case came to the Authority pursuant to a remand from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The court directed the Authority to address the merits of the parties' negotiability arguments regarding one proposal. The proposal would permit Air Traffic Assistants, by virtue of the proposed Liaison and Familiarization Travel program, to participate in the Agency's National Standardized Familiarization Training program. The Authority found that the proposal was outside the duty to bargain under section 7117(a)(1) of the Statute because it was inconsistent with the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch, 5 C.F.R. § 2625.202.
The Authority noted that section 2635.202 prohibits a Government employee from, "directly or indirectly, soliciting or accepting a gift from a prohibited source unless the item is excluded from the definition of a "gift" or falls within one of the exceptions provided in the regulation. The Authority found that, under section 2635.202, the air carriers providing the travel pursuant to the proposed FAM program are a "prohibited source;" the travel is a "gift"; and the travel does not fall within one of the exclusions from the definition of "gift" under 5 C.F.R. § 2635.203(b).
On remand, the Authority concluded that the proposal was inconsistent with 5 C.F.R. § 2635.202 and thus, outside the duty to bargain under section 7117(a)(1) of the Statute. The Authority noted that the proposal would permit the employee to accept a gift from a prohibited source in violation of the Standards of Ethical Conduct, 5 C.F.R. § 2635.202.