FEDERAL MEDIATION AND CONCILIATION SERVICE

In the Matter of the Arbitration between FMCS No. 04-07090

Grievant Helen Gail B. Hart
NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES
UNION CHAPTER 276,
Union,

and

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE

CORPORATION,
Agency.
___________________________________/

FINAL AWARD

October 10, 2005

After Issuance of the Opinion of the Arbitrator on July 22, 2005

For the Union: For the Agency:

Timothy C. Welsh David A. Stockwell

Assistant Counsel Counsel/Corporate Affairs Section
National Treasury Employees Union Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
2801 Buford Highway, Suite 430 10 Tenth Street, 8th Floor
Atlanta, GA 30329 Atlanta, GA 30309
 This is one of numerous arbitrations spawned by the FDIC’s

Corporate Success Award (“CSA”) program. See, for example, Federal

Deposit Insurance Corporation, 120 LA 1441 (Moreland Arb 2005). In a

lengthy opinion dated July 22, 2005, 105 LRP 48317, the arbitrator issued

the following interim award:

Grievant’s nomination for a CSA is remanded to the first-level review

panel for evaluation in accordance with the arbitrator’s opinion. The
panel should embody its decision in writing, and members should sign
the document, within thirty (30) days of the date of this opinion.

The Union’s request for attorney’s fees is denied as to the proceedings

thus far, as this is a new program, and there is no evidence of bad faith
on the Agency’s part.

The arbitrator retains jurisdiction to resolve any issues which may

arise in the course of the new evaluation and to address Grievant’s
request for interest, should she be found entitled to a CSA.

Although the award expressly was denominated as “interim”, the

FDIC, presumably with the Union’s concurrence, waited an additional thirty

days before taking action. Cf. 5 USC § 7122(b) (30 days to file exceptions

with the Federal Labor Relations Authority). In a letter to Grievant, dated

September 16, 2005, the first-level review panel issued the following

decision:

On July 22, 2005 Arbitrator Cornelius issued his Opinion and Interim
Award In the Matter of the Arbitration between the National Treasury
Employees Union and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,
FMCS Case No. 040727-07090-1, Grievant Gail B. Hart, instructing
FDIC management to reconsider your nomination for the Corporate

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Success Award (CSA).

Arbitrator Cornelius instructed that the members of the decision-

making management team that originally reviewed the Division of
Supervision and Consumer Protection (DSC) nomination form
nominations for the 2003 contribution period reconvene and
reconsider your CSA nomination for the 2003 contribution period.
Furthermore, Arbitrator Cornelius instructed that this First Level
Review Panel (Panel) consider your nomination anew, without regard
to the number of Information Technology (IT) employees or nominees
and without regard to the distributions of employees among various
geographical locations or work units to determine whether you are
among the top one-third of Union contributors to the DCS for 2003.

Accordingly, on September 16, 2005, the Panel members Deputy

Regional Director Michael J. Dean and Assistant Regional Directors
(ARD) Marlon G. Cook, James C. Watkins, Gale Simons-Poole, and
former ARD Kelly Smith met to consider your nomination anew
without regard to the number of IT employees or nominees and
without regard to the distribution of employees or nominees among
various geographical locations or work units.1

The Panel reviewed and considered your contributions reflected in

your CSA nomination form submitted by your Field Supervisor. The
Panel also reviewed the nomination forms of each of the eighty
bargaining unit Atlanta Region DSC CSA recipients for the 2003
contribution period and discussed your nomination. To the extent a
Panel member(s) drew upon his/her personal knowledge, the Panel
member was particularly mindful of the potential for unfairness and
ensured that such knowledge pertained only to the contribution period
at issue.

Your contributions were thoroughly and carefully compared to the

contributions of each of the eighty Atlanta Region DSC bargaining
unit CSA recipients for the 2003 contribution period, without regard
to the number of IT employees or the distribution of employees
among geographical locations or work units. We find you are a
commendable employee. However, after reconsidering your
nomination anew as instructed by Arbitrator Cornelius in the manner
described above, the Panel finds that you were not among the top third

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 contributors of the Atlanta Region DSC bargaining unit employees.
Therefore, you will not receive a CSA for your contributions in 2003.

______________
1
Former ARD Smith retired from the FDIC in December, 2004.
Nevertheless, once apprised of Arbitrator Cornelius’s Opinion and
Interim Award, she agreed to participate in the reconsideration of your
CSA nomination.

Inasmuch as neither Grievant nor the Union has filed any objection to

the panel’s decision, Grievant’s request for a Corporate Success Award is

DENIED, and this case is CLOSED.

Dated October 10, 2005

____________________________
E. Frank Cornelius, Arbitrator