O'Connor v. United States

308 F.3d 1233
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedOctober 17, 2002
DocketNo. 02-5016
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 308 F.3d 1233 (O'Connor v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
O'Connor v. United States, 308 F.3d 1233 (Fed. Cir. 2002).

Opinion

PROST, Circuit Judge.

Donald O’Connor, et al., (collectively “appellants”) appeal from the decision of the United States Court of Federal Claims dismissing their complaint for lack of jurisdiction. O’Connor v. United States, 50 Fed.Cl. 285 (2001). Because the court erred in concluding that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the case, we reverse the court’s dismissal. Because the court correctly granted, in the alternative, partial summary judgment in favor of the government on the ground of accord and satisfaction, we affirm that portion of its decision and remand for further proceedings.

I. BACKGROUND

The relevant facts are not in dispute. Appellants are employees of the Defense Contract Management District of the West (“DCMDW” or “the agency”),1 id. at 286, who seek compensation, liquidated damages, interest, attorney fees, and costs for overtime allegedly worked in violation of § 207 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. (1994). Appellants are represented exclusively by the American Federation of Government Employees (“AFGE” or “the union”), local bargaining unit 2433 (“local 2433”), and certain terms of their employment are therefore governed by a collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) executed between the agency and the DCMDW Council of AFGE Locals, including local 2433. Id. at 287. Under § 7121(a)(1) of the Civil Service Reform Act (“CSRA”), 5 U.S.C. § 7101 et seq. (2000), all such CBAs are [1237]*1237required to include procedures “for the settlement of grievances.” Id. § 7121(a)(1). With certain exceptions that do not apply here, the CSRA provides that these negotiated grievance procedures are to “be the exclusive administrative procedures for resolving grievances which fall within its coverage.” Id. (emphasis added). The statute further states that “any grievance not satisfactorily settled under the negotiated grievance procedure shall be subject to binding arbitration.” Id. § 7121(b)(l)(C)(iii). The CSRA explicitly defines “grievance” to include complaints “by any employee, labor organization, or agency concerning ... any claimed violation, misinterpretation, or misapplication of any law ... affecting conditions of employment.” Id. § 7103(a)(9)(C)(ii). Although § 7121(c) of the statute excludes certain matters from the application of the grievance procedures, overtime claims under the FLSA are not among them. See id. § 7121(c).

As required by the CSRA, the CBA at issue here contains grievance procedures for the “prompt and equitable settlement of grievances between the parties” to the agreement. Consistent with the CSRA, the CBA defines “grievance” broadly to include complaints based upon “the interpretation or application of any law ... with respect to ... matters affecting conditions of employment.” The CBA further provides that unless a matter is explicitly excluded from the application of the negotiated grievance procedures, these procedures are to be “the exclusive procedure available to bargaining unit employee(s) for the resolution of grievances.” (emphasis added). Although the CSRA specifically permits a CBA to exclude any matter from the application of the grievance procedures that the negotiating parties see fit, see id. § 7121(a)(2), appellants’ CBA does not list FLSA overtime claims in Article 36, Section 4, “Matters Excluded.” Finally, appellants’ CBA states that if the local bargaining unit representative is not satisfied with the results of the grievance procedures, it may request that the matter be taken to arbitration. As required by the CSRA, the arbitrator’s decision is to be binding upon the parties.

From 1997 through early 1999, eleven AFGE locals, including local 2433, filed substantively identical grievances against the agency alleging that it had violated the FLSA by failing to pay overtime to all bargaining unit members occupying positions at the GS-9 grade level and above. See O’Connor, 50 Fed.Cl. at 287. Section 207(a)(1) of the FLSA states, in pertinent part:

Except as otherwise provided in this section, no employer shall employ any of his employees ... for a workweek longer than forty hours unless such employee receives compensation for his employment in excess of the hours above specified at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he is employed.

29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1) (2000). The FLSA further provides that an individual whose employer violates § 207 is entitled to the unpaid overtime wages, an additional equal amount as liquidated damages, attorney fees, and costs. Id. § 216(b). An employee may bring suit for a § 207 violation in any federal or state court of competent jurisdiction. Id.

On July 14, 1999, the parties entered into a global settlement agreement (“settlement agreement”) resolving the eleven locals’ overtime grievances against' the agency. O’Connor, 50 Fed.Cl. at 288. As part of the settlement agreement, the agency agreed to pay the union $5,285,000 and other consideration to be disbursed to employees according to tabulations in three appendices to the agreement. Id. [1238]*1238This amount represented “all backpay, interest, liquidated damages and attorneys’ fees and costs for the positions identified in Appendices A, B, and C incurred in the Union grievances up to the date that this Agreement is signed.” The agency also consented to pay an additional $200 to each employee in the eleven union locals occupying a position designated in Appendix C of the settlement agreement. Id. In exchange for this payment, the parties agreed that no backpay, interest, or liquidated damages would accrue for the Appendix C employees from the date of settlement to nine months thereafter. Id. Finally, the settlement agreement stated that, with the exception of the provisions governing the disputed Appendix C positions, the union would not arbitrate the matters asserted in the FLSA grievances for the time periods covered by the grievances nor would it pursue individual employee claims to arbitration other than as elsewhere provided in the settlement agreement. Id.

Almost a year later, appellants filed a complaint in the Court of Federal Claims alleging that the agency had violated § 207 of the FLSA. Id. The court dismissed appellant’s complaint on the ground that § 7121(a)(1) of the CSRA deprived the court of jurisdiction. Id. at 293. As stated above, § 7121(a)(1) provides that the negotiated grievance procedures contained in a CBA shall be, with certain exceptions, “the exclusive administrative procedures for resolving grievances that fall within [the CBA’s] coverage.” 5 U.S.C. § 7121(a)(1) (2000) (emphasis added). The word “administrative” was added to the statute by Congress in 1994, and it forms the heart of the jurisdictional debate in this case. Prior to the 1994 amendment, § 7121(a)(1) provides simply that a CBA’s negotiated grievance procedures would be “the exclusive procedures for resolving grievances which fall within [a CBA’s coverage].” 5 U.S.C.

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308 F.3d 1233 (Federal Circuit, 2002)

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