`[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1987 Reported in House (RH)]






                                                 Union Calendar No. 220
106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1987

                          [Report No. 106-385]

To allow the recovery of attorneys' fees and costs by certain employers 
   and labor organizations who are prevailing parties in proceedings 
 brought against them by the National Labor Relations Board or by the 
             Occupational Safety and Health Administration.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 27, 1999

 Mr. Goodling introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

                            October 14, 1999

  Additional sponsors: Mr. Ballenger, Mr. Boehner, Mr. Hoekstra, Mr. 
Greenwood, Mr. Graham, Mr. Norwood, Mr. Schaffer, Mr. Deal of Georgia, 
  Mr. Hilleary, Mr. Salmon, Mr. Tancredo, Mr. DeMint, Mr. Goode, Mr. 
Wicker, Mr. Cooksey, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. Ganske, Mr. Talent, 
 Mr. McIntosh, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas, Mr. Souder, Mr. 
  Upton, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Barrett of Nebraska, Ms. Pryce of Ohio, Mr. 
 Fletcher, Mr. Nethercutt, Mr. Hayes, Mr. Weldon of Florida, Mr. Gary 
Miller of California, Mr. Manzullo, Mr. Vitter, Mr. Watts of Oklahoma, 
  Mr. Coble, Mr. Aderholt, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Buyer, Mr. Blunt, Mr. 
   Cannon, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Dreier, Mr. Bonilla, Mrs. Fowler, Mr. 
 Kuykendall, Mr. Calvert, Mr. Hobson, Mr. Hayworth, Mr. Isakson, Mrs. 
Northup, Mr. Herger, Mr. Hefley, Mr. Rogan, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. 
Pickering, Mr. Knollenberg, Mr. Peterson of Pennsylvania, Mr. Largent, 
  Mr. Hill of Montana, Mr. Goss, Mr. Duncan, Mr. DeLay, and Mr. Armey

                            October 14, 1999

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 27, 
                                 1999]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To allow the recovery of attorneys' fees and costs by certain employers 
   and labor organizations who are prevailing parties in proceedings 
 brought against them by the National Labor Relations Board or by the 
             Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fair Access to Indemnity and 
Reimbursement Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Certain small businesses and labor organizations are at 
        a great disadvantage in terms of expertise and resources when 
        facing actions brought by the National Labor Relations Board or 
        by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
            (2) The attempt to ``level the playing field'' for small 
        businesses and labor organizations by means of the Equal Access 
        to Justice Act has proven ineffective and has been 
        underutilized by these small entities in their actions before 
        the National Labor Relations Board and before the Occupational 
        Safety and Health Review Commission.
            (3) The greater expertise and resources of the National 
        Labor Relations Board and the Occupational Safety and Health 
        Administration as compared with those of small businesses and 
        labor organizations necessitate a standard that awards fees and 
        costs to certain small entities when they prevail against the 
        National Labor Relations Board or against the Occupational 
        Safety and Health Administration.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act--
            (1) to ensure that certain small businesses and labor 
        organizations will not be deterred from seeking review of, or 
        defending against, actions brought against them by the National 
        Labor Relations Board or by the Occupational Safety and Health 
        Administration because of the expense involved in securing 
        vindication of their rights;
            (2) to reduce the disparity in resources and expertise 
        between certain small businesses and labor organizations and 
        the National Labor Relations Board and the Occupational Safety 
        and Health Administration; and
            (3) to make the National Labor Relations Board and the 
        Occupational Safety and Health Administration more accountable 
        for their enforcement actions against certain small businesses 
        and labor organizations by awarding fees and costs to these 
        entities when they prevail against the National Labor Relations 
        Board or in proceedings before the Occupational Safety and 
        Health Review Commission.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT.

    The National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 and following) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:

                 ``awards of attorneys' fees and costs

    ``Sec. 20. (a) Administrative Proceedings.--An employer who, or 
labor organization that--
            ``(1) is the prevailing party in an adversary adjudication 
        conducted by the Board under this or any other Act; and
            ``(2) had not more than 100 employees and a net worth of 
        not more than $7,000,000 at the time the adversary adjudication 
        was initiated,
shall be awarded fees and other expenses as a prevailing party under 
section 504 of title 5, United States Code, in accordance with the 
provisions of that section, but without regard to whether the position 
of the Board was substantially justified or special circumstances make 
an award unjust. For purposes of this subsection, the term `adversary 
adjudication' has the meaning given that term in section 504(b)(1)(C) 
of title 5, United States Code.
    ``(b) Court Proceedings.--An employer who, or a labor organization 
that--
            ``(1) is the prevailing party in a civil action, including 
        proceedings for judicial review of agency action by the Board, 
        brought by or against the Board, and
            ``(2) had not more than 100 employees and a net worth of 
        not more than $7,000,000 at the time the civil action was 
        filed,
shall be awarded fees and other expenses as a prevailing party under 
section 2412(d) of title 28, United States Code, in accordance with the 
provisions of that section, but without regard to whether the position 
of the United States was substantially justified or special 
circumstances make an award unjust. Any appeal of a determination of 
fees pursuant to subsection (a) or this subsection shall be determined 
without regard to whether the position of the United States was 
substantially justified or special circumstances make an award 
unjust.''.

SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY OF NLRA AMENDMENT.

    (a) Agency Proceedings.--Subsection (a) of section 20 of the 
National Labor Relations Act, as added by section 3 of this Act, 
applies to agency proceedings commenced on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
    (b) Court Proceedings.--Subsection (b) of section 20 of the 
National Labor Relations Act, as added by section 3 of this Act, 
applies to civil actions commenced on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. AMENDMENT TO OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT.

    The Occupational Safety and Health Act (29 U.S.C. 651 and 
following) is amended by inserting after section 12 at the end the 
following new section:

                 ``awards of attorneys' fees and costs

    ``Sec. 12A. (a) Administrative Proceedings.--An employer who--
            ``(1) is the prevailing party in an adversary adjudication 
        before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission 
        under this or any other Act, and
            ``(2) had not more than 100 employees and a net worth of 
        not more than $7,000,000 at the time the adversary adjudication 
        was initiated,
shall be awarded from the Secretary of Labor fees and other expenses as 
a prevailing party under section 504 of title 5, United States Code, in 
accordance with the provisions of that section, but without regard to 
whether the position of the Secretary of Labor was substantially 
justified or special circumstances make an award unjust. For purposes 
of this subsection, the term `adversary adjudication' has the meaning 
given that term in section 504(b)(1)(C) of title 5, United States Code.
    ``(b) Court Proceedings.--An employer who--
            ``(1) is the prevailing party in a civil action, including 
        proceedings for judicial review of an action by the 
        Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, brought by or 
        against the Secretary or the Commission, and
            ``(2) had not more than 100 employees and a net worth of 
        not more than $7,000,000 at the time the civil action was 
        filed,
shall be awarded from the Secretary of Labor fees and other expenses as 
a prevailing party under section 2412(d) of title 28, United States 
Code, in accordance with the provisions of that section, but without 
regard to whether the position of the United States was substantially 
justified or special circumstances make an award unjust. Any appeal of 
a determination of fees pursuant to subsection (a) or this subsection 
shall be determined without regard to whether the position of the 
United States was substantially justified or special circumstances make 
an award unjust.''.

SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY OF OSHA AMENDMENT.

    (a) Agency Proceedings.--Subsection (a) of section 12A of the 
Occupational Safety and Health Act, as added by section 5 of this Act, 
applies to agency proceedings commenced on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
    (b) Court Proceedings.--Subsection (b) of section 12A of the 
Occupational Safety and Health Act, as added by section 5 of this Act, 
applies to civil actions commenced on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
                                     





                                                 Union Calendar No. 220

106th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               H. R. 1987

                          [Report No. 106-385]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To allow the recovery of attorneys' fees and costs by certain employers 
   and labor organizations who are prevailing parties in proceedings 
 brought against them by the National Labor Relations Board or by the 
             Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

_______________________________________________________________________

                            October 14, 1999

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed`