Original Coverage & Source Attribution: federalnewsnetwork.com
The National Treasury Employees Union contends that the IRS’s refusal to comply with an order to reinstate telework violates the Administrative Procedure Act.
Drew Friedman@dfriedmanWFED
3 min read
The IRS is facing a new legal challenge from its union, after the agency declined to restore telework for federal employees despite a recent arbitration ruling ordering it to do so.
The National Treasury Employees Union on Thursday filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing that the IRS’s refusal to comply with the arbitration order violates the Administrative Procedure Act.
A third-party arbitrator ruling in July found that the IRS violated its collective bargaining agreement when it implemented the Trump administration’s return-to-office orders last year.
Despite the arbitrator’s order to restore telework and remote work arrangements for bargaining unit employees, NTEU’s new lawsuit contends that the IRS told agency managers the return-to-office policy should remain in effect. The agency asserted that workplace disputes are no longer subject to arbitration due to the cancellation of its collective bargaining agreement with NTEU.
]]>
Although the IRS in February rescinded its collective bargaining agreement, NTEU argued that because it filed a grievance over the return-to-office orders before the termination of the agreement, the dispute is still subject to arbitration.
NTEU alleged that in the months since the arbitrator’s ruling, the agency has not taken any steps to challenge the arbitration decision, “nor does its behavior to date reveal any intent to do so in the future,” the lawsuit reads.
An IRS spokesperson did not immediately respond to Federal News Network’s request for comment.
“Neither the IRS nor any other federal agency can ignore a binding arbitration decision because it dislikes the outcome,” NTEU National President Doreen Greenwald said. “An arbitrator ordered the agency to restore employees’ telework rights. The IRS’ directive to its managers to ignore that decision is illegal, and NTEU’s lawsuit asks a federal district court to reach that same conclusion.”
“IRS employees have been successfully teleworking for years, and reports show that telework is good for agencies, employees and the public they serve,” Greenwald continued. “NTEU is determined to continue fighting to enforce our arbitration victories.”
Agencies have been facing a slew of legal challenges from federal unions, with many due to the Trump administration’s push to end collective bargaining for a majority of the federal workforce.
NTEU filed a separate case on Wednesday with the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, challenging the IRS’ termination of its collective bargaining agreement earlier this year. The lawsuit contends that the IRS again violated the Administrative Procedure Act because it “failed to engage in reasoned decision making, failed to consider reliance interests and failed to consider alternatives,” the court filing reads.
]]>
“The IRS cannot simply walk away from commitments it made to its employees at the bargaining table,” Greenwald said. “IRS employees have earned these protections, and we will fight together to defend them. We are holding the agency accountable for its commitments and its obligation to follow the law.”
NTEU has also been suing the departments of Treasury and Health and Human Services, claiming that both agencies violated the Rehabilitation Act by denying thousands of employees timely access to telework as a workplace accommodation for those with disabilities and medical conditions.
Over the last several months, many arbitrators have been ruling in favor of unions in telework-related grievances, including at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Social Security Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Forest Service.
Most recently, the Federal Labor Relations Authority ruled in favor of NTEU in a case involving HHS’s recission of telework and remote work, marking one of the first FLRA rulings tied to the Trump administration’s return-to-office orders.
If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email [email protected] or reach out on Signal at drewfriedman.11
