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D.C. District Court Clarifies Employees' Obligation to Exhaust Administrative Remedies Before Filing in Court
To have jurisdiction in a federal court, a federal employee must show that he exhausted his administrative remedies by allowing the agency and/or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to process the case. Trouble arises in cases where a federal employee exhausted his administrative remedies for the underlying discrimination complaint, but not for claims of retaliation.

Posted: November 6, 2009 | Full Story | Discuss this Article

Privacy Act Against TSA for Missing Data Dismissed by Court
Four Transportation Security Administration employees were not able to convince a court that their agency violated the Privacy Act when an agency hard drive with personal information on some 100,000 TSA employees went missing.

Posted: November 3, 2009 | Full Story | Discuss this Article

Expunging Personnel Records and Creating a Public Record Through Appeals
A federal employee reached a settlement with the Army under which he resigned and the agency would rescind the removal for cause from his personnel records. He filed another appeal, created a public record, and got a decision that the Army had done what it agreed to do.

Posted: October 30, 2009 | Full Story | Discuss this Article

The Complexities and Frustrations of the Federal Human Resources Process
A GS-12 Internal Revenue Service employee, unhappy over her performance rating and discipline taken against her for making false statements on her pre-hire background investigation questionnaire, was unsuccessful in making a case that the agency's actions amounted to unlawful retaliation for her discrimination complaint.

Posted: October 29, 2009 | Full Story | Discuss this Article

D.C. Circuit Holds That Employees Should Report Sexual Harassment Promptly
The recent buzz about David Letterman's affair with a staffer has brought issues of workplace sexual harassment back into the limelight. For federal employees, a recent court decision makes it important for employees to report harassment promptly.

Posted: October 25, 2009 | Full Story | Discuss this Article

Divorce, Health Insurance and a Retired Federal Employee
A divorced spouse of a retired federal employee has been frustrated in her attempts to continue her coverage under his federal health insurance policy even though she had a court order requiring her ex-husband to "continue to pay...the premiums due on the medical" policy.

Posted: October 13, 2009 | Full Story | Discuss this Article

Contractor Considered Agency Employee in EO Case Says Court
A recent case demonstrates that when the federal government gets too involved in personnel decisions affecting contract employees, it could open the door to equal employment opportunity complaints just as if the individual is in fact a government employee.

Posted: October 1, 2009 | Full Story | Discuss this Article

Applicant Awarded $100,000 Despite Agency Doubts About Applicant's Fitness for Position
A trial court has rebuffed the government's attempts to set aside a jury verdict in favor of an unsuccessful applicant for an FBI Special Agent position. The FBI revoked its conditional offer of employment to a Type I insulin-dependent diabetic applicant. The applicant invoked the Rehabilitation Act and sued the agency.

Posted: September 27, 2009 | Full Story | Discuss this Article

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