Court Nixes Challenge To Smoking Ban

WASHINGTON (CN) - The D.C. Circuit dismissed a union's challenge of a smoking ban in National Guard facilities in New York. The court said it lacks jurisdiction to address whether the Federal Labor Relations Authority should have upheld the 2003 ban, enacted by the New York Division of Military and Naval Affairs.

The Association of Civilian Technicians claimed the division violated their collective bargaining agreement by failing to negotiate the terms of the new smoking policy. The FLRA had sufficiently addressed the union's unfair labor claims, Judge Sentelle concluded in the 2-1 decision.

"Not only does the Authority's order include a 'substantive evaluation' of the union's claims, but that evaluation, though dictum, carries precedential weight in future Authority findings." See ruling in Association of Civilian Technicians v. FLRA

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