Read summaries of court cases and decisions that impact federal employees and retirees.
A Department of Education employee was transferred but apparently kept using the travel card after her travel authorization expired. She also didn’t report for work at the new location. She was fired and filed an appeal arguing she was a whistleblower. Neither the Court nor the MSPB found that argument convincing.
An employee of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs was fired for failing to follow a supervisor’s instructions and then used “disrespectful language and made inappropriate statements.” The employee argued that she was a whistleblower and that the agency had committed procedural error but, after all appeals, remains a former federal employee.
Can an agency reassign a federal employee to a position the employee considers less desirable without giving an employee the right to appeal? In this case, the MSPB and the Court gave a clear answer.
How long can it take for a removal action against a federal employee to run its course? Here is an example of how a federal employee who was removed but with skill, determination, and active supporters has kept a case going for a few years, and still has room to keep it running.
The Federal Circuit of Appeals has concluded that the OPM regulation on excepted service positions violates the law. It is “at odds with the statutory protections Congress guaranteed these [30% or more disabled] veterans.”
A federal employee argued that her resignation was involuntary and therefore an adverse action. The case went back to court a second time after the employee, who had been working on a movie set with her husband while supposedly caring for him in his dying days, appealed the denial from MSPB.
A federal employee with a record of disciplinary actions refused to obey an order from a supervisor. An administrative judge ordered reinstatement but the MSPB disagreed and upheld the removal. The case then went to federal court for a final decision.
An air traffic controller became angry in a meeting and threatened to kill one of his supervisors with whom he had a history of conflict. The MSPB upheld the removal.
Can an employee fired during a probationary period file an appeal with the MSPB if she is fired as a result of information uncovered during a background check? The MSPB said “no” and this case involving an IRS employee went to federal court.
After boarding a school bus over the driver’s objections to confront students who hit him with an object from the bus, and then brandishing a gun for the students to see, a training tech at an Air Force base was fired. He went to federal court to try to get his job back.
