“The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, 5 U.S.C. 7701(c)(2)(A), empowers the Merit Systems Protection Board to set aside adverse agency action taken against a federal employee if the employee can show that a procedural error committed by the agency caused substantial prejudice to his rights. The question presented is whether the statute requires a different ‘harmful error’ rule to be applied when a federal employee who is a member of a bargaining unit seeks review of adverse agency action before an arbitrator.”
“Respondents do not dispute the correctness of the Board’s definition of harmful error insofar as it applies to proceedings before the Board. Respondents argue, however, that an arbitral proceeding differs significantly from a Board proceeding, and that a different definition of harmful error should apply in the arbitral context. . . . We are not persuaded by respondents’ arguments. Congress clearly intended that an arbitrator would apply the same substantive rules as the Board does in reviewing an agency disciplinary decision.”
