Court Opinion

ID: 9474796
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:08:55.836132+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:44:20.239426
License: Public Domain

*949SILBERMAN, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
Since the majority opinion effectively amends the General Counsel’s Complaint by reading more into it than can legitimately be found either by this court or, for that matter, by the Authority,1 the court violates one of the most fundamental and settled principles of federal labor law: that the FLRA and NLRB General Counsel, as a necessary corollary of their unreviewable discretion to determine whether to bring unfair labor practice Complaints,2 have plenary authority to determine the scope of such Complaints.3 Accordingly, I am obliged to dissent.
The Complaint, filed on May 10, 1983, raised solely an issue subsequently resolved by the FLRA in an interpretive rule affirmed by this court. See Interpretation and Guidance, 15 F.L.R.A. 564 (1984), aff'd, American Fed’n of Gov’t Employees v. FLRA, 778 F.2d 850, 863 (D.C.Cir.1985) (Ginsburg, J., dissenting). That issue was whether under 5 U.S.C. § 7114(c) (1982) agency heads “are empowered to review all provisions of collective bargaining agreements, including those mandated by the [Federal Service Impasses] Panel, to assure conformity with the provisions of the [Federal Service Labor-Management Relations] Statute as well as other applicable laws, rules, and regulations.” Interpretation and Guidance, 15 F.L.R.A. 564, 567 (1984) (emphasis in original). The union, in the charge it filed with the General Counsel, implicitly sought to raise in addition the entirely separate question on which the majority focuses: whether in this particular case the Army improperly rejected the Panel-imposed contract clause because the agency rule upon which the Army relied was not based on “compelling need,” as defined in 5 C.F.R. § 2424.11 (1985). See Joint Appendix (J.A.) at 11-12. The General Counsel neither raised this question in his original Complaint nor sought to amend the Complaint to place *950this issue before the FLRA after the promulgation of the Interpretation and Guidance.4 Under those circumstances the FLRA had absolutely no choice but to dispose of the case as it did. See supra note 1.
Although I find the Complaint abundantly clear on its face,5 in this case there really cannot be any question as to its scope since the parties stipulated to the single issue before the Authority:
Whether an agency is preempted from exercising its statutory obligation under Section 7114(c) of the Statute when a subordinate activity is under a Federal Service Impasses Panel Decision and Order under Section 7119(c)(5)(C) of the Statute regarding incorporation of a provision in a collective bargaining agreement.
Stipulation of July 22, 1983 of Dep’t of Army, Nat’l Fed’n of Fed. Employees and General Counsel, J.A. at 9 (signed by counsel for the Army, the union, and the General Counsel).
This Stipulation cannot reasonably be read to raise the issue the court wishes resolved: whether, in the event the Army was not pre-empted from exercising its statutory power, it nonetheless “improperly” exercised that power in this case. Moreover, the General Counsel’s memorandum to the FLRA assiduously avoids this subject.
Of course, there are numerous possibilities that could explain why the General Counsel refused to challenge the merits of the Army’s rule. He may have thought that the Army was substantively correct in its negotiability determination although, in his view, procedurally barred from raising its objections at that point. He may, on the other hand, have thought that the case was not a suitable vehicle for challenging the merits of the determination. Or, since the union has the right to appeal a question of negotiability directly to the Authority (but must choose between pursuing such a direct appeal or filing an unfair labor practice charge with the General Counsel, see 5 C.F.R. §§ 2423.5, 2424.5), he may have concluded that his scarce resources would be better employed elsewhere. But it is surely not our role to inquire into the grounds for the General Counsel’s decision — let alone review them.6 The General Counsel’s strict avoidance of any reference to the merits of the Army’s decision has all the hallmarks of a conscious exercise of discretion in framing the issues for FLRA review — a choice the FLRA was bound to, and did, respect. So must this court. Blake, 663 F.2d at 279; West Point, 330 F.2d at 590-91.
*951The majority, as I understand its opinion, implies that if the FLRA were to determine that the agency bore the burden of proof in an unfair labor practice proceeding challenging the “compelling need” for an agency regulation, then our remand would not impermissibly invade the General Counsel’s discretion. Maj.Op. at 948. Although the burden of proof issue is not before us, I find the suggestion that the burden of proof on negotiability could be placed on the respondent in an unfair labor practice proceeding somewhat strained. See 5 U.S.C. § 7118(a)(8); 5 C.F.R. § 2423.18; R. Gorman, Labor Law 9 (1976) (“[T]he burden of proof or of persuasion is on the [NLRB] General Counsel.”).7
In any event, whatever the proper resolution of the burden of proof question raised by the majority, I believe that resolution could provide no support for the court’s order here. Even assuming, arguendo, that the agency bore the burden of proving a compelling need for the regulation upon which it relies, that in no way dispenses with the statutory requirement that the General Counsel must challenge in his Complaint the agency’s position on negotiability in order to confer on the FLRA power to resolve that issue. See supra. As shown above, the General Counsel chose not to quarrel with the merits of the Army’s regulation, and a ruling on the hypothetical burden of proof question cannot provide the missing allegations in the Complaint.
Finally, I regret the majority’s gratuitous dicta concerning its anticipatory dissatisfaction with the Army’s justification for its rule. Maj.Op. at 948. Since the merits (the compelling need for the regulation) have never been placed in issue, it would seem, at the bare minimum, premature to criticize the Army’s behavior.

. The Authority and this court may only pass on the allegations which the General Counsel places before them. This is conclusively established by the caselaw concerning the powers of the NLRB's General Counsel, upon which Congress explicitly modelled the FLRA General Counsel. Turgeon v. FLRA, 677 F.2d 937, 939-40 (D.C.Cir.1982). "The Board may not make findings or order remedies on violations not charged in the General Counsel’s complaint or litigated in the subsequent hearing____ Even where the record contains evidence supporting a remedial order, the court will not grant enforcement in the absence of either a supporting allegation in the complaint or a meaningful opportunity to litigate the underlying issue in the hearing itself.” NLRB v. Blake Constr. Co., 663 F.2d 272, 279 (D.C.Cir.1981) (citations omitted). See also NLRB v. Tamper, Inc., 522 F.2d 781, 788-89 & n. 10 (4th Cir.1975); Montgomery Ward & Co. v. NLRB, 385 F.2d 760, 763 (8th Cir. 1967) (“Evidence without a supporting allegation cannot serve as the basis of a determination of an unfair labor practice.”) (citation omitted); West Point Mfg. Co. v. NLRB, 330 F.2d 579, 591 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 379 U.S. 882, 85 S.Ct. 144, 13 L.Ed.2d 88 (1964) ("A court has no power to order the General Counsel to issue a complaint and no power to require the Board to issue an order in a matter which is not before it.’’) (citations and footnotes omitted).
Given the contents of the Complaint at issue here, the General Counsel was precluded from arguing, and the FLRA from deciding, the merits of the Army’s negotiability determination. The Complaint must include "[a] clear and concise description of the acts which are claimed to constitute unfair labor practices....” 5 C.F.R. § 2423.12(b)(7). "Both the Administrative Procedure Act and the [NLRB’s] own rules require that the complaint inform the [respondent] of the violations asserted.” Blake, 663 F.2d at 279 (footnotes omitted) (construing identical NLRB rule and 5 U.S.C. § 554(b)(3)), and cases cited therein. Accord Soule Glass & Glazing Co. v. NLRB, 652 F.2d 1055, 1073-75 (1st Cir.1981).

. See 5 C.F.R. § 2423.10(e) (1985) (“The General Counsel may sustain the Regional Director’s refusal to issue or reissue a complaint, stating the grounds of affirmance, or may direct the Regional Director to take further action.... The decision of the General Counsel shall be final.”); Turgeon, 677 F.2d 937 (D.C.Cir.1982); Martinez v. Smith, 768 F.2d 479 (1st Cir.1985); Martel v. Carroll, 562 F.Supp. 443, 444 (D.Mass.1983). Congress explicitly modelled the plenary discretion of the FLRA General Counsel on that of the NLRB’s General Counsel. See Turgeon, 677 F.2d at 939-40.

. See Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. v. NLRB, 567 F.2d 1343, 1350 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 985, 99 S.Ct. 576, 58 L.Ed.2d 656 (1978) (NLRA "leaves to the general counsel the decision as to what is and what is not at issue in an unfair labor practice hearing’’); West Point, 330 F.2d at 590-91 (“The decision as to the scope of a complaint is for the General Counsel.”).

. Although the Complaint issued before the FLRA’s Interpretation and Guidance, the General Counsel, had he so chosen, could have moved to amend the Complaint at any time between August 17, 1984, when the Interpretation was promulgated, and February 28, 1985, the date of the FLRA’s disposition of the Complaint. See 5 C.F.R. § 2423.12(d) (1985).

. The Complaint recited, inter alia, that the Army, by rejecting as non-negotiable the 60-day notice provision mandated by the Panel, had failed and refused to comply with the provisions of section 7119(c)(5)(C) of the statute, Complaint and Notice of Hearing f 9 (J.A. at 15), which in turn states that "any final action of the Panel under this section ... shall be binding on [the] parties during the term of the agree-ment____’’ Any such refusal would therefore also be, as the General Counsel further alleged, a refusal to negotiate in good faith and an unfair labor practice under 5 U.S.C. §§ 7116(a)(1), (5), and (6). Complaint and Notice of Hearing j[jf 10-11 (J.A. at 15). See Memorandum to the FLRA on Behalf of Counsel for the General Counsel at 6-7 (J.A. at 55-56).

. None of the parties’ briefs before this court argued that the Complaint raised what I call the merits issue. Cf. 5 U.S.C. § 7123(c): "No objection that has not been urged before the Authority, or its designee, shall be considered by the court, unless the failure or neglect to urge the objection is excused because of extraordinary circumstances." The union argued rather that if the court sustained the Interpretation and Guidance it should order the FLRA to remand the case to the General Counsel to allow "an opportunity” to amend the Complaint. That is merely another way of encroaching on the General Counsel’s discretion by seeking to exert pressure on the General Counsel to revisit a decision he has already made. Had he wanted to amend the Complaint he had six months in which to act before the FLRA’s disposition of this case. See supra note 4.

. As I mentioned above, the union can seek direct review of ah agency regulation which the agency asserts blocks negotiability. Unless the FLRA’s statutory scheme can be interpreted as giving unions an overwhelming incentive to seek direct review rather than contest negotiability determinations through unfair labor practice charges, one would assume that the allocation of burdens of proof would be similar in both unfair labor practice proceedings and direct FLRA review.