Search:

Custom Search
Photo of Susan Smith

Disrespectful Language and Failure to Follow Instructions Leads to Removal

By Susan Smith

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

You can have daily headlines from FedSmith.com delivered right to your desktop each business morning. The service is free and you don't get junk e-mail as the price of your subscription. Just visit our newsletter page to sign up!

Susan McGuire Smith spent most of her 26-year federal government career with NASA, first at NASA Headquarters Office of General Counsel and then at Marshall Space Flight Center, serving as Chief Counsel there for more than 14 years. Her expertise is in government contracts, ethics, and personnel law. Ms. Smith has a J.D and a B.A. degree from the George Washington University. Her publications include Practical Ethics for the Federal Employee.

A four-year employee at the VA's Fresno facility, fired by the agency following clashes with her supervisor, has lost her appeal before the federal court. (Bruce v. Department of Veterans Affairs, C.A.F.C. No. 2008-3266 (nonprecedential), 1/9/09)

Bruce was a medical technician at the Central California Health Care System. The agency based its removal case on incidents involving Bruce and her supervisor. Bruce failed to follow her supervisor's instructions not to take a patient into a workout room that was set aside for staff. Bruce then used "disrespectful language and made inappropriate statements" to her supervisor and made similar statements later to her co-workers about her supervisor. (Opinion p. 2) The agency wasted no time removing Bruce.

Bruce appealed to the Merit Systems Protection Board. She challenged the three charges brought against her—failure to follow instructions, using disrespectful language, and making inappropriate statements. She also argued the penalty was unreasonable as well as raised the affirmative defenses of whistleblowing and harmful procedural error. (p. 2)

The Administrative Judge held a hearing. Based on the evidence, the AJ concluded that the agency had met its burden and sustained all three charges against Bruce. The AJ ruled against Bruce on each of the affirmative defenses. Finally, the AJ found removal appropriate, noting the behavior was serious, there were no mitigating factors, and Bruce had a history of similar misconduct that had resulted in separate prior disciplinary actions for using disrespectful language and making inappropriate statements. (p. 3)

Bruce took her case to the Federal Circuit where she tossed out several arguments as to why the agency and the Board were wrong. None of them carried the day with the appeals court. The court was unimpressed by Bruce's generalized argument that her supervisor's testimony was false and that the AJ should have accepted Bruce's version of the facts. (p. 5) As to her argument that it was wrong to consider the prior disciplinary actions, the court sided with the Board. (p. 6)

In short, Bruce's removal stands.
 

© 2009 FedSmith Inc. All rights reserved. This article may not be reproduced without express written consent of FedSmith Inc.

Add a Comment about this Article

** All fields are required.
Note: Your comments will not show up right away. FedSmith.com selects the most insightful comments from our readers for posting. If selected, your comments will show up in the comments section after they have been reviewed and approved. See our terms of use for more information.

Readers' Comments

  • There are always to sides to every story. Sometimes there are employees that managers just do not like through no fault of the employee. Employee "A" might do something and it is overlooked, Employee "B" does the same thing and is written up for it. That's human nature, that's why MANAGEMENT crea...
    Posted: March 12, 2009 8:28 AM
  • I am sorry to see another federal employee removed. Although it doesn't sound too good on the surface (failing to follow insructions, using disrespectful language, etc), I know there are always two sides to every story. I imagine this employee had no respect for her supervisor and it could have be...
    Posted: March 3, 2009 5:29 AM
  • Proff and DM, You two are both right, don't you work BOTH at those facilities as a cook and a janitor....
    Posted: February 6, 2009 10:26 AM

View All Comments »

MORE BY SUSAN SMITH

Contact Susan Smith or read more articles on the author's page.