Medium Large Transport; Low Wing; 2 Turbojet Eng
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 10
Situational Awareness; Human-Machine Interface; Distraction; Communication Breakdown; Confusion
ATC Issue All Types; Airspace Violation All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance
Human Factors; Procedure; Airspace Structure
Aircraft X was climbing out of IAD. Requesting FL380. Per Letter of Agreement (LOA) Washington area departures are climbed to FL320 or lower requested altitude. A shelf on the shared ZOB/ZDC boundary facilitates aircraft climb without coordination. Aircraft X was climbing well and we had converging traffic at FL320; so we tried to initiate Point out to W04 (Pinion sector) to keep Aircraft X climbing outside of the shelf. Aircraft X began to slow climb rate as it approached FL320. Now we had about 3 minutes till traffic was merging. D-side tried at least 7-8 to call W04 and no response. Finally W04 controller picks up the line but instead of approving point out she proceeds to berate my D-side; which happens to be a D-side only rated controller; about unnecessary point outs and the shelf. She basically admitted that she was intentionally ignoring the call because she 'didn't think that Aircraft X was going to hit my airspace'. Our supervisor called to try and figure out what happened; but was rebuffed by the Controller in Charge (CIC)/ Front Line Manager (FLM) and was told something to the effect of; keep the airplanes out of our airspace and no more point outs! Turns out that Aircraft X did in fact come within 2.5 miles of the sector and did require a point out; but this fact is not needed in the overall view of this event. Apparently this has been occurring with W04 for years. If a controller is knowingly neglecting his/her duties while on position I cannot advise anything other than management intervention with employee.
ZOB Controller reported an issue with another controller berating a D-Side; stating that the aircraft in question did not need to be pointed out; when in fact the aircraft did require a point out.