Three rulings on cases involving the RRB were issued by the courts of appeals during fiscal year 2010, and three noteworthy legal opinions were issued by the RRB's Office of General Counsel.

Court Cases

Two petitions for review were pending at the beginning of fiscal year 2010, and three petitions for review were filed during the year. Three cases were decided by the courts of appeals during fiscal year 2010, all in the RRB’s favor, with two petitions still pending at the end of the year.

Legal Opinions

The RRB's Office of General Counsel issued several formal Legal Opinions in fiscal year 2010, with summaries for three presented here as they are of special interest.

 
Legal Opinion L-2010-01 addressed the issue of whether laid-off railroad employees would be disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act because of retraining and unemployment-style benefits provided to these same employees under the Federal Trade Act. There are special provisions in the Federal Trade Act that provide retraining and support to employees who have been laid off due to manufacturing plant closings caused by foreign competition. The Federal Trade Act provides a type of unemployment benefit, as well as tuition reimbursements, retraining stipends, and dependent subsistence allowances to these affected workers.

The Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act provides that employees cannot receive unemployment benefits from the RRB at the same time as other “social insurance” benefits. The opinion found that the Federal Trade Act unemployment-style benefits qualified as “social insurance” benefits and, thus, the laid-off railroad employees would not be eligible for unemployment benefits under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. The opinion also found that any amounts provided for tuition reimbursement, retraining stipends or dependent subsistence allowances did not qualify as “social insurance” benefits because these amounts do not correspond to a specific period of unemployment. Therefore, employees would still be able to receive railroad unemployment benefits while receiving these types of reimbursements and stipends.

In Legal Opinion L-2010-04, a railroad inquired as to how a judgment in a personal injury lawsuit that included damages for lost time would be treated by the RRB. The lawsuit was brought under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act. The judgment included a monetary amount for the employee’s “past loss, including lost earnings” and a different amount for the employee’s “future loss, including lost earnings.” The employee had not resigned after the lawsuit and the railroad was maintaining him as “disabled” on its active seniority list.

The opinion held that the full amount of money accorded to past loss would be allocated as compensation to months between the date of injury and date of the judgment, while the full amount of money accorded to future loss would be allocated to months in the future beginning with the date of the judgment and continuing until the maximum per month (1/12 of annual maximum) is allocated to each future month.

Legal Opinion L-2010-06 analyzed whether a laid-off employee receiving a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act payment is still eligible for unemployment and sickness benefits under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. The WARN Act states that employers with 100 or more employees must give written notice to employees at least 60 days in advance of a plant closing. If the employer fails to give proper notice to the employees, the employer must provide back pay and benefits to the employees for each day of the employer’s violation of the WARN Act.

Under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, workers cannot receive unemployment and sickness payments if they are also receiving compensation from an employer. Therefore, because WARN Act payments are meant to replace compensation lost due to a layoff, an employee receiving such payments would be disqualified from simultaneously receiving unemployment or sickness benefits.

Appeals

Any claimant for benefits under the Railroad Retirement or Railroad Unemployment Insurance Acts may appeal a determination he or she feels is not justified. This appeal must be filed within certain time frames. Appeals are heard and decided by the RRB’s Bureau of Hearings and Appeals. An appellant who is dissatisfied with the decision on his or her appeal may further appeal the case to the three-member Board within a prescribed period of time.

Railroad Retirement Act

During fiscal year 2010, 503 appeals were filed with the Bureau of Hearings and Appeals under the Railroad Retirement Act, and the Bureau rendered decisions in 428 appeals. The initial or reconsideration decision was sustained in 159 cases. In 269 appeals the decision was favorable to the claimant in whole or in part.

Sixty-seven appeals were filed with the Board in fiscal year 2010, which, added to the 30 appeals carried over from the previous year, brought the total to be considered to 97. Of 71 decisions, 55 sustained previous rulings of the hearings officer, four were reversed, one was remanded to the Office of Programs, six were remanded to the Bureau of Hearings and Appeals, three were affirmed in part and allowed in part, and two were dismissed. At the end of the year, 26 appeals were pending before the Board.

Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act

During fiscal year 2010, 34 appeals were filed with the Bureau of Hearings and Appeals under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, and the Bureau rendered decisions in 33 appeals. The initial or reconsideration decision was sustained in 25 cases. In eight appeals the decision was favorable to the claimant in whole or in part.

Three appeals were filed with the Board in fiscal year 2010. The Board rendered a decision on all three appeals, affirming the decision of the referee in each one. At the end of the year, no appeals were pending before the Board.