Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 115 /Tuesday, June 16, 1998 / Notices 32867

Washington, DC 20202 from the hours

of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Dated: June 12, 1998.

David A. Longanecker,

Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary

Education.

[FR Doc. 98–16090 Filed 6–12–98; 1:57 pm]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Arbitration Panel Decision Under the

Randolph-Sheppard Act

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of Arbitration Panel

Decision Under the Randolph-Sheppard

Act

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that on

January 20, 1998, an arbitration panel

rendered a decision in the matter of

Wayne Coxey versus State of

Washington Department of Services for

the Blind (Docket No. R–S/96–6). This

panel was convened by the U.S.

Department of Education pursuant to 20

U.S.C. 107d–1(a), upon receipt of a

complaint filed by petitioner, Wayne

Coxey.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: A copy of the

full text of the arbitration panel decision

may be obtained from George F.

Arsnow, U.S. Department of Education,

600 Independence Avenue, SW., Room

3230, Mary E. Switzer Building,

Washington, DC 20202–2738.

Telephone: (202) 205–9317. Individuals

who use a telecommunications device

for the deaf (TDD) may call the TDD

number at (202) 205–8298.

Individuals with disabilities may

obtain this document in an alternate

format (e.g., Braille, large print,

audiotape, or computer diskette) on

request to the contact person listed in

the preceding paragraph.

Electronic Access To This Document

Anyone may view this document, as

well as all other Department of

Education documents published in the

Federal Register, in text or portable

document format (pdf) on the World

Wide Web at either of the following

sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov//fedreg.htm

http://www.ed.gov/news.html

To use the pdf you must have the

Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with

Search, which is available free at either

of the previous sites. If you have

questions about using the pdf, call the

U.S. Government Printing Office toll

free at 1–888–293–6498.

Anyone may also view these

documents in text copy only on an

electronic bulletin board of the

Department. Telephone: (202) 219–1511

or, toll free, 1–800–222–4922. The

documents are located under Option GFiles/Announcements, Bulletins and

Press Releases.

Note: The official version of this document

is the document published in the Federal

Register.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant

to the Randolph-Sheppard Act (20

U.S.C. 107d–2(c)), the Secretary

publishes in the Federal Register a

synopsis of each arbitration panel

decision affecting the administration of

vending facilities on Federal and other

property.

Background

In September 1994 the State Licensing

Agency (SLA) offered complainant an

opportunity to operate a cafeteria in the

Washington State Department of

Licenses in Olympia, Washington. Two

months after Mr. Coxey began operating

the Highway Licenses Building

cafeteria, the building’s tenant

committee began to complain about Mr.

Coxey’s operation of the vending

facility. The complaints included

allegedly unsanitary food preparation

practices, poor selection of food items,

questionable pricing practices, rude

service, a disrespectful and disgruntled

attitude toward employees and

customers, and inconsistent hours.

Earlier in the year, because of similar

problems with Mr. Coxey at another

facility, the SLA barred him from

continuing to operate that facility.

Following a meeting among Mr.

Coxey, the tenant committee, and the

SLA, the cafeteria operation improved.

However, by May 1995, the tenant

committee complained that the service

had again deteriorated to an

unsatisfactory level. Subsequently, the

building’s tenant committee contacted

the SLA and again requested

improvement in the cafeteria operation.

The SLA met with complainant and

prepared a corrective action plan to

bring about improvements. The

corrective action plan requested that Mr.

Coxey improve the following: Hours of

operation, health and sanitary practices,

food handling and storage, customer

and employee relations, consistent

refund policy, and the submission to the

SLA of timely profit and loss

statements.

On September 19, 1995, the SLA met

with Mr. Coxey to discuss the

implementation of the corrective action

plan. Complainant rejected the plan.

Following that meeting, the tenant

committee requested that the SLA

remove Mr. Coxey from the cafeteria. On

November 2, 1995, the SLA removed

him and on December 22, 1995, the SLA

issued to Mr. Coxey a letter sustaining

the removal. Mr. Coxey appealed his

termination and requested and received

a full evidentiary hearing, which was

held on January 24, 1996. In an opinion

dated February 13, 1996, the

Administrative Law Judge affirmed the

SLA’s decision to suspend Mr. Coxey’s

operating agreement and remove him

from the cafeteria, and on February 27,

1996, the SLA terminated his vending

operator’s license. It was that decision

that Mr. Coxey sought to have reviewed

by a Federal arbitration panel. A hearing

was held on February 24 and 25, 1997.

Arbitration Panel Decision

The issue before the arbitration panel

was whether the SLA acted reasonably

and within the scope of its authority

under the Act and regulations when it

removed Mr. Coxey from the Highway

Licenses Building cafeteria and

terminated his vending license. On the

basis of the evidence presented at the

hearing, the majority of the panel ruled

that Mr. Coxey was hostile toward every

attempt to improve the operation of the

cafeteria. The panel further concluded

that complainant had rejected the SLA’s

attempts to have him conform to the

SLA’s rules and regulations governing

the vending facility program in the State

of Washington.

The majority of the panel ruled that

retaining the complainant as a licensee

would jeopardize the credibility of the

Randolph-Sheppard program. The panel

found that the SLA had acted correctly

and within the scope of its authority

when it removed Mr. Coxey from the

cafeteria and terminated his vending

operator’s license.

One panel member dissented.

The views and opinions expressed by

the panel do not necessarily represent

the views and opinions of the U.S.

Department of Education.

Dated: June 11, 1998.

Judith E. Heumann,

Assistant Secretary for Special Education and

Rehabilitative Services.

[FR Doc. 98–15946 Filed 6–15–98; 8:45 am]

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