Mitigation or Demotion for this Postal Supervisor?
A post office Supervisor who was demoted to Clerk based on unsatisfactory performance failed to convince the appeals court to mitigate the penalty to a suspension.
Court Cases
Stay informed with the latest court cases affecting federal employees and retirees, including major federal employment law decisions, appeals, and rulings from MSPB, FLRA, EEOC, and federal courts. This category covers workplace rights, disciplinary actions, due process cases, retirement‑related rulings, TSP‑related litigation, and significant legal decisions impacting federal agencies and the federal workforce. Find clear summaries and analysis of the court outcomes shaping federal employment protections, benefits, and workplace policies.
HHS Ordered to Compute Back Pay and Benefits After Violating Veterans Act
HHS was ordered to hire a veteran and to compute back pay where the agency conceded that it would have selected a veteran had it not made an error in removing his name from the list of candidates for a competitive service position.
Electing a Survivor Annuity: Follow Legal Requirements or Lose the Benefit
A surviving widow of a retired federal employee tried without success to convince OPM, the MSPB and the appeals court that her deceased husband had provided her a survivor’s annuity.
Courts Open Window to Expand Employees’ Rights to Privacy in Electronic Communications
The courts have been chipping away at employees’ privacy rights, particularly with regard to email on the clock. Some of these issues are being given a second look.
FLRA Puts Personnel Specialists in the Bargaining Unit: Does the FLRA Need Remedial Reading Training?
After 30 years under the Federal labor law, the FLRA has ruled for the first time that personnel specialists are in a bargaining unit as their work is routine.
National Security and the Commissary Cashier
A cashier at an Air Force commissary was found to be in a “non-critical sensitive” position. She was fired and the MSPB concluded that her removal was analogous to a removal for not having a security clearance.
17-Year Employee Fired for Actions During Internal Affairs Investigation
An employee fired after 17 years of federal service argued he was acting in his role as a union official and not as an agency official when being interviewed by the agency’s Office of Internal Affairs. Two specifications supporting one charge of conduct unbecoming were found to be enough to uphold his removal.
Disparate Treatment, Federal Taxes and “Conduct Unbecoming of a Federal Employee”
A mailroom worker for SSA got caught up in a fraudulent income tax scheme apparently sponsored by a co-worker. While under investigation, the agency promoted the employee who now had access to a database of Social Security numbers. The employee was fired but a federal court sends the case back to the MSPB for a new decision.
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 EEOC to process the case.
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.
