Gary Mongelli, President of AFGE Local 3972 and the Law Offices of Snider & Associates, LLC announced today that they have received a substantial and favorable decision from Arbitrator Daniel M. Winograd in an Arbitration between the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3972 and the United Stated Department of House and Urban Development, FMCS Case No. 06-52736. The decision will have national implications for all disciplinary actions relating to HUD Bargaining Unit employees regarding allegations of delinquent payment of the HUD-issued GSA Smartcard, which is issued to thousands of HUD employees.

The Grievant was removed from federal service for failure to pay her GSA Smartcard credit card outstanding balance on time and the Union (AFGE Local 3972 Vice President Gary Thacker) filed a Grievance over the removal. Mr. Gary Mongelli, Union President, AFGE Local 3972 and his team of dedicated Union representatives did everything in their power to get the Agency to understand why the decision to remove the Grievant was unfair and violated the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Unfortunately, the Agency refused to change their decision. The team, consisting of a number of hardworking and strongwilled Union officials and reps (including Dorothy Crowwillard, Gary Thacker and Gary Mongelli), submitted dozens of Requests for Information pursuant to 5 USC 7114(b), which produced information showing that hundreds of HUD employees had misused their Smart Cards and/or were delinquent on payment, with some of debts in the thousands of dollars (compared to the relatively small delinquent debt of the Grievant), yet none were removed.

When Arbitration was invoked, Mr. Mongelli contacted the law firm of Snider & Associates in Baltimore Maryland because "the attorney's at Snider & Associates are first rate litigators with vast experience in Union related matters." The case was primarily handled by the firm's senior partner, Mr. Michael J. Snider, Esq and Ari Taragin, Esq., a senior attorney at the firm, along with other attorneys and law clerks, as well as paralegals. Hundreds of hours were required to work on this case, due to the many issues involved, the volume of documents and the many witnesses. The hearing took place in Denver, CO and during the three day hearing, thousands of pages of records were introduced into evidence and there were numerous witnesses from both sides who testified.

The major issues were whether the Agency promoted the efficiency of service and if the was sufficient and just cause for the removal. On March 19, 2008, Arbitrator Winograd, in a 71-page Award, found that there was no nexus between the GSA Smartcard payments and the efficiency if the service. This decision was based on the clear and unambiguous language found in the AFGE-HUD CBA, which states:

"Section 49.22 - Debt Collection. Management shall provide no more "assistance with the collection of Government charge card debts than is currently available regarding the collection of privately owed debts.
Unpaid card debts will be treated as any non-work related debt."

The Arbitrator found, in part:

"The arbitrator has found that there is no nexus between grievant's delinquent Smartpay account and the efficiency of the service. Inherent in that conclusion is that the delinquency could not affect grievant's ability to perform at a satisfactory level because the delinquency had no nexus or relationship to the job duties which grievant was performing... The arbitrator has no doubt that the penalty imposed upon grievant was dramatically inconsistent with the penalties imposed upon other employees in similar circumstances. By all accounts, grievant is the first and only non-probationary Agency employee to have been removed as a result of misconduct involving Smartpay cards. Other employees, both within the Denver HOC and elsewhere, have used their Smartpay cards for personal expenditures, in some cases, to the extent of thousands of dollars. Countless employees have failed to pay their travel charges in timely fashion, and many of those employees have had long-term or repeated delinquencies. None received punishment in excess of a 30 day suspension. Many have received no discipline whatsoever. Grievant's delinquency was for a relatively short time and in a relatively small amount. The penalty of removal under those circumstances was inconsistent with disciplinary actions taken against other similarly situated employees and was extremely disproportionate to the punishment imposed by the Agency in all previous cases."

This decision has national implications as the AFGE Unions at HUD will now be able to successfully argue, with persuasive precedent, that all disciplinary actions relating to unpaid GSA Smartcard balances are not related to employee's federal jobs for disciplinary purposes.

"The fact is that the GSA Smartcard is a private debt just like any other credit card and the government should not be able to fire or discipline their employees for issues relating to the Smartcard.
Fortunately, Arbitrator Winograd's decision was based directly on this issue." said Ari Taragin. "This victory served a significant service to the Federal workforce, in that now thousands of HUD employees who are required to use the GSA Smartcard are protected, and will ensure that they are not unfairly disciplined for delinquencies not due to their own fault."

Arbitrator Winograd found that the Grievance was sustained and that "Grievant shall be reinstated to her former position and made whole for her losses as set forth above." This Award is anticipated to include nearly three years of backpay with interest, reinstated Annual and Sick leave, health insurance benefits and all other emoluments. The Agency is not anticipated to appeal the Award. If they were to appeal, HUD would need the concurrence of both OPM and the US Department of Justice.