Opinion ID: 3011504
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: This matter comes on before this court on appeal from an order of the district court entered December 29, 2000, granting a summary judgment upholding an arbitrator's decision that the United States Postal Service hadjust cause to terminate letter carrier Carmelita Colatat's employment. The arbitrator found that Colatat knowingly filed an application for workers' compensation benefits under the Federal Employee Compensation Act (FECA), falsely claiming that she suffered a work-related knee injury and that this conduct constituted just cause for her dismissal. Her union, the National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL-CIO (NALC), brought this action and brings this appeal, contending that the arbitrator erred by rendering a decision inconsistent with a determination of the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) that she had been injured at work. In particular, NALC argues that OWCP's factual determinations were binding on the arbitrator pursuant to 5 U.S.C. S 8128(b). 2