Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/558bv.pdf
Page Number: 246

Cite as: 558 U. S. 67 (2009) 

85 

Opinion of the Court 

encing  has not  occurred,  NRAB panels  have stayed  arbitra­
tion to allow the parties to confer.  Tr. of Oral Arg. 10, 22.9 

B 

The RLA provides that, when on-property proceedings do 
not  yield  settlement,  both  parties  or  either  party  may  refer 
the  case  to  the  Board  “with  a  full  statement  of  the  facts 
and  all  supporting  data  bearing  upon  the  disputes.”  § 153 
First (i).  Circular One correspondingly instructs employees 
seeking Board adjudication “[to] set forth all relevant, argu­
mentative  facts”  and  “afﬁrmatively  show  the  same  to  have 
been presented to the carrier and made a part of the particu­
lar  question  in  dispute.”  29  CFR  § 301.5(d);  see  § 301.5(e) 
(similar  instruction  addressed  to  carriers).  Conferencing, 
the  Carrier  urged,  is  a  “relevant,  argumentative  fac[t],”  so 
proof thereof must accompany party submissions. 

As  earlier  explained,  see  supra,  at  83–84,  instructions  on 
party  submissions—essentially  pleading  instructions—are 
claim-processing,  not  jurisdictional,  rules.  Moreover,  the 
Board  itself  has  recognized  that  conferencing  may  not  be  a 
“question  in  dispute.”  It  has  counseled  parties  submitting 
joint  exhibits  “to  omit  documents  that  are  unimportant 
and/or  irrelevant  to  the  disposition  of  the  [case];  for  exam­
ple  .  .  .  letters  requesting  a  conference  (assuming  that  is 
not  an  issue  in  the  dispute).”  NRAB  Instructions  Sheet, 
Joint Exh. Program, p. 5 (July 1, 2003), online at http://www. 
nmb.gov/arbitration/nrab-instruc.pdf (as visited Dec. 3, 2009, 

9 While holding that the panel did not lack jurisdiction over the employ­
ees’  claims,  we  recognize  the  Board’s  authority  to  adopt  claim-processing 
rules  backed  by  effective  sanctions.  See  supra,  at  73;  cf.  Fed.  Rule 
Civ.  Proc.  37(b)(2)  (specifying  sanctions,  including  dismissal,  for  failure 
to  comply  with  discovery  orders);  Rule  41(b)  (authorizing  involuntary 
dismissal  for  failure  to  prosecute  or  to  comply  with  rules  of  procedure 
or  court  orders).  We  also  recognize  that  NRAB  panels,  in  managing  in­
dividual  arbitrations,  may  prescribe  and  enforce  reasonable  procedural 
requirements.