A former Navy employee argued, in effect, that he did his job well and that removal was an unduly harsh penalty. The Merit Systems Protection Board thought removal was appropriate after the agency had imposed three disciplinary actions. The case then moved into federal court.
An explosives operator at Pine Bluff Arsenal told a co-worker he would “cut the buttons off her overalls” with the knife he was holding. She was not amused at the “joke” and the employee was fired. The appeal by the fired fed eventually went to a federal court.
Part-time employees have long been denied premium pay. A new decision from a federal court may change that practice as the court sends a case back to the lower court after concluding that an employee includes “those who work for pay.”
An FBI agent fired for taping his sexual encounters with three women had some success before the Federal Circuit.
A Criminal Investigator with the Department of Homeland Security who was fired for misconduct in connection with helping her mother try to win U.S. citizenship went to court to try and keep her job. The court sustains the MSPB conclusion that she should be fired.
In a Postal Service case, the court finds an agency may establish a zero tolerance policy leading to automatic removal. In this removal case, an employee fired for getting into a physical altercation on agency property gets returned to the MSPB “for an appropriate remedy in favor of (the employee)…”
Date stamps on documents are important to the Internal Revenue Service which often works with deadlines that may be applicable. This employee was fired after allegedly altering the dates on documents to conceal a mistake based on a law that requires termination of any IRS employee for “falsifying or destroying documents to conceal mistakes made by an employee with respect to a matter involving a taxpayer or taxpayer representative.”
A federal employee said she was divorced but kept her ex-husband and his two children on her federal health insurance policy. An investigator found that a divorce decree submitted by the employee was not issued by a court. She was fired and appealed her case to a federal court.
The Internal Revenue Service typically comes down hard on any of its employees who play fast and loose with their federal income tax returns. Usually this is a firing offense. A recent appeals court decision illustrates the agency’s harsh dealings with tax cheats among its ranks.
This VA employee thought he should be paid at a higher grade level; OPM disagreed.
