248
Thomas, J., dissenting
NASA headquarters and NASA's OIG had committed unfair labor practices. On review, the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit granted the Authority's application for enforcement of its order. 120 F. 3d 1208 (1997).
As the Court correctly recognizes, ante, at 233, several points are not in dispute at this stage of the litigation. The fact that P requested union representation and reasonably believed that disciplinary action might be taken against him on the basis of information developed during the examination has never been in dispute in this case. See NASA, 50 F. L. R. A. 601, 606, n. 4 (1995). Although petitioners contested the matter before the Authority, on review in the Eleventh Circuit, they conceded that OIG's investigator conducted the interview of P in a way that did not comport with what § 7114(a)(2)(B) requires. See 120 F. 3d, at 1211. And all parties agree that the relevant "agency" for purposes of § 7114(a)(2)(B) is NASA. One other point is not disputed— the "representative" to which § 7114(a)(2)(B) refers must represent agency management, not just the agency in some general sense as the Court suggests, ante, at 233-234, 240. See 50 F. L. R. A., at 614 (" '[R]epresentative of the agency' under section 7114(a)(2)(B) should not be so narrowly construed as to exclude management personnel employed in other subcomponents of the agency"); id., at 615 (" 'We doubt that Congress intended that union representation be denied to the employee solely because the management representative is employed outside the bargaining unit' ") (quoting Defense Criminal Investigative Serv. v. FLRA, 855 F. 2d 93, 99 (CA3 1988)); Brief for Respondent FLRA 16 ("The Authority has determined that the phrase 'representative of the agency' should not be so narrowly construed as to exclude management personnel, such as the OIG, who are located in other components of the agency"); id., at 21; Reply Brief for Petitioners 1 ("[A] 'representative of the agency' in Section 7114(a)(2)(B) must be a representative of agency management").
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