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United States, Department of the Air Force, Aerospace Maintenance, and Regeneration Center, Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona (Respondent) and John Pennington (Charging Party)

[ v58 p636 ]

58 FLRA No. 162     

UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE
AEROSPACE MAINTENANCE
AND REGENERATION CENTER
DAVIS MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE
TUCSON, ARIZONA
(Respondent)

and

JOHN PENNINGTON
(Charging Party)

DE-CA-01-0276

_____

DECISION AND ORDER

July 11, 2003

_____

Before the Authority: Dale Cabaniss, Chairman, and
Carol Waller Pope and Tony Armendariz, Members

I.      Statement of the Case

      This unfair labor practice case is before the Authority on exceptions to the attached decision of the Administrative Law Judge (Judge) filed by the Respondent. The General Counsel (GC) filed an opposition to the exceptions.

      The Judge concluded that the Respondent violated § 7116(a)(1) and (2) of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute) by giving a bargaining unit employee a notice of reprimand based on protected activity.

      Upon consideration of the Judge's decision and the entire record, we adopt the Judge's findings, conclusions and recommended Order consistent with our discussion below.

      In adopting the Judge's finding that the employee was engaged in protected activity, we agree with the Judge that the meeting between the employee, his supervisor and the union steward concerned a grievance within the meaning of § 7103(a)(9) of the Statute. We also agree with the Judge that the employee was engaged in protected activity because he was pursuing a contractually negotiated right to bring "matters of personal concern to the attention of appropriate officials," as set forth in Article 2, Section 5 of the parties' agreement. Judge's Decision at 14, 18-19.

      The Judge applied the framework in Letterkenny Army Depot, 35 FLRA 113, 118 (1990) (Letterkenny) to the facts in this case. Under that framework, the GC establishes a prima facie case of discrimination by demonstrating that: (1) the employee against whom the alleged discriminatory action was taken was engaged in protected activity; and (2) such activity was a motivating factor in the agency's treatment of the employee. Once the GC makes the required prima facie showing, an agency may seek to establish the affirmative defense that: (1) there was a legitimate justification for the action; and (2) the same action would have been taken even in the absence of the protected activity.

      We have held that when the alleged discrimination concerns discipline for conduct occurring during protected activity, "a necessary part of the respondent's defense is that the conduct constituted flagrant misconduct." United States Dep't of Veterans Affairs, Ralph H. Johnson Med. Ctr., Charleston, S.C., 58 FLRA 44, 47 (2002) (quoting Fed. Bureau of Prisons, Office of Internal Affairs, Wash., D.C., 53 FLRA 1500, 1514 (1998)). In light of the court's decision in Dep't of the Air Force, 315th Airlift Wing v. FLRA, 294 F.3d 192 (D.C. Cir. 2002), we take this opportunity to clarify that when the alleged discrimination concerns discipline for conduct occurring during protected activity, a necessary part of the respondent's defense is that the conduct constituted flagrant misconduct or otherwise exceeded the boundaries of protected activity. In this regard, the court stated that "[f]lagrant misconduct is a sufficient, but not necessary, condition for a loss of privilege under § 7102 [of the Statute]." 294 F.3d at 201. As the court noted in discussing earlier Authority precedent, "`flagrant misconduct' [i]s only illustrative of exceeding the boundaries of protected activities." Id. at 202 (emphasis in original). [n1] 

      If conduct that exceeds the boundaries of protected activities is established, the conduct loses its protection under the Statute and can be the basis for discipline. If the conduct retains its protection, it cannot be the basis for discipline. "In effect, in such a case, it is not legitimate for an agency to discipline for conduct occurring during the course of protected activity that [does not exceed the boundaries of protected activities]." Fed. Bureau of Prisons, Office of Internal Affairs, Wash., D.C., 53 FLRA 1500, 1516 (1998). Under the Letterkenny framework, the agency has the burden of establishing its affirmative defense by a preponderance of the evidence, and the GC has the overall burden of establishing the violation by a preponderance of the evidence on the record as a whole.

      In the instant case, the Judge found, and we agree for the reasons stated by him, that the Respondent failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that it had a [ v58 p637 ] legitimate reason for the reprimand. [n2] Accordingly, we find that the Respondent committed the unfair labor practices alleged in the complaint and we issue the following remedial order.

II.     Order

      Pursuant to § 2423.41(c) of the Authority's Regulations and § 7118 of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute, it is hereby ordered that the Department of the Air Force, Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center, Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona, shall:

      1. Cease and desist from:

           (a) Taking action against any employee represented exclusively by the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 2924 (Union), by issuing a notice of reprimand because the employee pursued a grievance and sought the assistance of the Union, in seeking to resolve a previously issued letter of counseling and to discuss other working conditions.

           (b) In any like or related manner, interfering with, restraining, or coercing its employees in the exercise of their rights assured them by the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute.

           2. Take the following affirmative actions in order to effectuate the purposes and policies of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute:

           (a) Rescind the notice of reprimand issued to John Pennington on September 21, 2000, and expunge the notice of reprimand from his employment record.

           (b) Post at its facilities at the United States Department of the Air Force, Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center, Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona, where bargaining unit employees represented by the Union are located, copies of the attached Notice on forms to be furnished by the Federal Labor Relations Authority. Upon receipt of such forms, they shall be signed by the Commander, and maintained for 60 consecutive days thereafter, in conspicuous places, including all bulletin boards and other places where notices to employees are customarily posted. Reasonable steps shall be taken to ensure that such Notices are not altered, defaced, or covered by any other material.

           (c) Pursuant to § 2423.41(e) of the Authority's Regulations, notify the Regional Director, Denver Regional Office, Federal Labor Relations Authority, in writing, within 30 days from the date of this Order, as to what steps have been taken to comply.


NOTICE TO ALL EMPLOYEES
POSTED BY ORDER OF THE
FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY

The Federal Labor Relations Authority has found that the United States Department of the Air Force, Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center, Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona, violated the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (Statute), and has ordered us to post and abide by this Notice.

WE HEREBY NOTIFY EMPLOYEES THAT:

WE WILL NOT take any action against any employee represented exclusively by the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 2924 (Union), by issuing a notice of reprimand because the employee pursued a grievance and sought the assistance of the Union in seeking to resolve a previously issued letter of counseling and to discuss other working conditions.

WE WILL NOT, in any like or related manner, interfere with, restrain, or coerce our employees in the exercise of their rights assured them by the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute.

WE WILL rescind the notice of reprimand issued to John Pennington on September 21, 2000, and expunge the notice of reprimand from his employment record.

____________________________
(Respondent/Agency)

Date:________By:_____________________
     (Signature) (Title)

This Notice must remain posted for 60 consecutive days from the date of posting and must not be altered, defaced, or covered by any other material.

If employees have any questions concerning this Notice or compliance with any of its provisions, they may communicate directly with the Regional Director, Denver Regional Office, Federal Labor Relations Authority, whose address is: 1244 Speer Boulevard, Suite 100, Denver, Colorado, 80204, and whose telephone number is: (303) 844-5224.


File 1: Authority's Decision in 58 FLRA No. 162
File 2: ALJ's Decision


Footnote # 1 for 58 FLRA No. 162 - Authority's Decision

   However, no party in this case asserts that there is any other basis on which the employee's conduct exceeded the boundaries of protected activity. Accordingly, just as the court had "no occasion to determine what actions, other than `flagrant misconduct,' result in a loss of privilege under the federal labor laws[,]" we need not, and do not, further address that matter here. 294 F.3d at 202.


Footnote # 2 for 58 FLRA No. 162 - Authority's Decision

   In light of this finding, we need not address the Judge's finding, under the second prong of Letterkenny, that the Respondent failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that it would have taken the same action in the absence of the employee's protected activity. See id. at 1516 n.11.