34:0290(53)CU - HUD, WASHINGTON, D.C. and AFGE, LOCAL 476 -- 1990 FLRAdec CU

34 FLRA NO. 53


       U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
                       WASHINGTON, D.C.
                           (Agency)

                              and

          AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES
                           LOCAL 476
                (Labor Organization/Petitioner)

                          3-CU-80031
                          3-CU-80032

	     ORDER GRANTING APPLICATION FOR REVIEW

    		       January 12, 1990

     Before Chairman McKee and Member Talkin and Armendariz.

I. Statement of the Case

     This case is before the Authority on an application for
review filed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development, Washington, D.C. (the Agency) under section
2422.17(a) of the Authority's Rules and Regulations. The Agency
seeks review of the Regional Director's decision and order on
petitions filed by the American Federation of Government
Employees, Local 476, (AFGE) under section 7111(b)(2) of the
Federal Service Labor - Management Relations Statute (the
Statute). AFGE did not file an opposition to the application for
review.

     AFGE is the exclusive representative of a consolidated
nationwide bargaining unit of the Agency's nonprofessional
employees. AFGE's petitions sought to clarify the unit to include
numerous employees. The Agency seeks review only as to the
Regional Director's determinations that four employees should be
included in the unit. For the reasons set forth below, we grant
the Agency's application. 

II. Regional Director's Decision and the Agency's Application for
Review

     With respect to the four employees involved in the
application for review, the Agency argued before the Regional
Director that they should be excluded from the unit. The Regional
Director found that the four employees should be included in the
unit.

     The Regional Director found that Hannah Klein is not a
management official and included her in the unit. The Agency
asserts that it did not contend that Klein should be excluded
from the unit because she was a management official, but rather
that she should be excluded because she is: (1) an employee
engaged in personnel work in other than a purely clerical
capacity within the meaning of section 7112(b)(3) of the Statute;
and/or (2) an employee engaged in administering the provisions of
the Statute within the meaning of section 7112(b)(4). The Agency
contends that compelling reasons exist under section 2422.17(c)
of our Regulations for granting review because the Regional
Director did not address these contentions.

     The Regional Director rejected the Agency's contentions that
Kay Frances Beam, Idress Klemmer, and Jacqueline E. Pinnix are
confidential employees within the meaning of section 7103(a)(13)
of the Statute, and he included them in the unit. The Regional
Director did not make specific findings as to each of these
employees. The Agency contends that compelling reasons exist
under section 2422.17(c) of our Regulations for granting review
as to these three employees because the Regional Director either
did not consider certain testimony or misapplied the facts to
precedent.

III. Discussion

     We conclude that the Agency has established that compelling
reasons exist for granting the application for review.

     As to Klein, the Regional Director's failure to consider the
Agency's contentions that she should be excluded from the unit
under section 7112(b) and (4) has prejudicially affected the
Agency's rights within the meaning of section 2422.17(c)(4) of
our Rules and Regulations.

     Because the Regional Director did not make specific findings
as to Beam, Klemmer, and Pinnix, we cannot determine 
either whether he considered the record evidence that the Agency
alleges was overlooked or whether he misapplied the facts to
precedent. In these circumstances, we find that the Regional
Director's failure to make specific findings as to Beam, Klemmer,
and Pinnix has prejudicially affected the Agency's rights within
the meaning of section 2422.17(c)(4) of our Rules and
Regulations.

IV. Order

     The Agency's application for review is granted. In
accordance with section 2422.17(g) of the Authority Rules and
Regulations, the parties may, within 10 days after issuance of
this order, submit briefs on the following issues:

     (1) Whether Hannah Klein is (a) an employee engaged in
personnel work in other than a purely clerical capacity within
the meaning of section 7112(b)(3), and/or (b) an employee engaged
in administering the provisions of the Statute within the meaning
of section 7112(b)(4); and

     (2) Whether Kay Frances Beam, Idress Klemmer, and Jacqueline
E. Pinnix are confidential employees within the meaning of
section 7103(a)(13) of the Statute.

     Briefs should be directed to:

                   Ms. Alicia Columna
                   Case Control Office
                   Federal Labor Relations Authority
                   500 C Street, SW.
                   Washington, D.C. 20424