[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1684 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1684

To allow the recovery of attorneys' fees and costs by certain employers 
   and labor organizations who are prevailing parties in proceedings 
      brought against them by the National Labor Relations Board.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 26, 1998

Mr. Hutchinson introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
         referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To allow the recovery of attorneys' fees and costs by certain employers 
   and labor organizations who are prevailing parties in proceedings 
      brought against them by the National Labor Relations Board.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fair Access to Indemnity and 
Reimbursement Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Certain small businesses and labor organizations are at 
        a great disadvantage in terms of expertise and resources when 
        facing actions brought by the National Labor Relations Board.
            (2) The attempt to ``level the playing field'' for small 
        businesses and labor organizations by means of the Equal Access 
        to Justice Act has proven ineffective and has been 
        underutilized by these small entities in their actions before 
        the National Labor Relations Board.
            (3) The greater expertise and resources of the National 
        Labor Relations Board as compared with those of small 
        businesses and labor organizations necessitate a standard that 
        awards fees and costs to certain small entities when they 
        prevail against the National Labor Relations Board.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act--
            (1) to ensure that certain small businesses and labor 
        organizations will not be deterred from seeking review of, or 
        defending against, actions brought against them by the National 
        Labor Relations Board because of the expense involved in 
        securing vindication of their rights;
            (2) to reduce the disparity in resources and expertise 
        between certain small businesses and labor organizations and 
        the National Labor Relations Board; and
            (3) to make the National Labor Relations Board more 
        accountable for its enforcement actions against certain small 
        businesses and labor organizations by awarding fees and costs 
        to these entities when they prevail against the National Labor 
        Relations Board.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT.

    The National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended 
by adding at the end the following:

                 ``awards of attorneys' fees and costs

    ``Sec. 20. (a) Administrative Proceedings.--An employer who, or a 
labor organization that--
            ``(1) is the prevailing party in an adversary adjudication 
        conducted by the Board under this or any other Act, and
            ``(2) had not more than 100 employees and a net worth of 
        not more than $1,400,000 at the time the adversary adjudication 
        was initiated,
shall be awarded fees and other expenses as a prevailing party under 
section 504 of title 5, United States Code, in accordance with the 
provisions of that section, but without regard to whether the position 
of the Board was substantially justified or special circumstances make 
an award unjust. For purposes of this subsection, the term `adversary 
adjudication' has the meaning given that term in section 504(b)(1)(C) 
of title 5, United States Code.
    ``(b) Court Proceedings.--An employer who, or a labor organization 
that--
            ``(1) is the prevailing party in a civil action, including 
        proceedings for judicial review of agency action by the Board, 
        brought by or against the Board, and
            ``(2) had not more than 100 employees and a net worth of 
        not more than $1,400,000 at the time the civil action was 
        filed,
 shall be awarded fees and other expenses as a prevailing party under 
section 2412(d) of title 28, United States Code, in accordance with the 
provisions of that section, but without regard to whether the position 
of the United States was substantially justified or special 
circumstances make an award unjust. Any appeal of a determination of 
fees pursuant to subsection (a) or this subsection shall be determined 
without regard to whether the position of the United States was 
substantially justified or special circumstances make an award 
unjust.''.

SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY.

    (a) Agency Proceedings.--Subsection (a) of section 20 of the 
National Labor Relations Act, as added by section 3 of this Act, 
applies to agency proceedings commenced on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
    (b) Court Proceedings.--Subsection (b) of section 20 of the 
National Labor Relations Act, as added by section 3 of this Act, 
applies to civil actions commenced on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
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