National Aeronautics on Space Administration v. Federal Labor Relations Authority (June 17, 1999)

* Court: U.S. Supreme Court (6 to 3 vote)

* Public Agency: NASA

* Trial Court's Decision: Not applicable

* Appellate Court (Eleventh Circuit's Decision): In favor of Federal Labor Relations Authority

* U.S. Supreme Court's Decision: In favor of Federal Labor Relations Authority

* Issue Areas: Federal employees, right to representation in disciplinary interview

NASA Facts

* The FBI provided information to NASA's Office of Inspector General (OIG) concerning employee X.

* In January 1993, NASA's OIG investigated employee X at NASA's Huntsville, Alabama facility.

* A NASA-OIG investigator interviewed X, permitted X's lawyer and union representative to attend, but limited their participation in the interview.

* The union representative filed an unfair labor practice charge against NASA with the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA).

* The FLRA agreed with the union representative's charge.

* NASA appealed to the Eleventh Circuit which upheld the FLRA.

Analysis of the NASA Decision

* The federal Inspector General Act (IGA) was enacted in 1978.

* The Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (FSLMRS) was also enacted in 1978.

* The FSLMRS provides to federal employees a right to union representation in interviews which may give rise to disciplinary action.

* NASA argued that this right applied against NASA but not against a NASA-OIG investigation. The Supreme Court rejected this distinction.

* The IGA, the statute creating the OIG, does not make an OIG separate from the agency it investigates.

* This case illustrates the additional level of legal complexity involved in disciplinary representation at the federal level.