Read summaries of court cases and decisions that impact federal employees and retirees.
A 19-year postal employee with no prior misconduct worked at a Post Office where she supervised clerks and served as the finance supervisor. She was demoted to a part-time job. The MSPB administrative judge sustained the penalty after finding only a lesser charge had been proved. A federal court returns the case as “The agency has not yet articulated what less severe sentence should be imposed when it proved only a much less severe charge.”
An employee of the IRS told the agency he had never left a job “under unfavorable circumstances.” A background investigation revealed that was not necessarily the case, at least in the agency’s opinion. The employee appealed his removal to the MSPB and to federal court but his legal quest did not get him reinstated.
When you leave federal service before being eligible for retirement, what are the implications of taking a lump sum payment? This former Navy employee discovered the answer.
The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled constitutional a regulation that led to the VA denying access to the Menlo Park, California facility for the purpose of registering veterans to vote.
When this Army facility conducted random drug tests, it apparently never had a positive result. When one showed up, there was some confusion and, eventually, the employee was fired. The MSPB upheld the removal but the Federal Circuit sent the case back to the Board noting that “all relevant email related to (this) case is beyond question.”
Congress has sometimes been referred to as “the last plantation.” But changes have come to the legislative branch–they just don’t happen very fast. In this case, a former Senate staffer claims he was terminated because he needed time off to recover from surgery and that he was “perceived as disabled.” But does the law apply when a Senator decides not to run for re-election? A court says that it does.
A security guard was fired for assaulting a co-worker despite the fact it exceeded the agency’s table of penalties. The MSPB upheld the removal and that has now been affirmed by a federal court.
After a background investigation turned up “issues” for a person tentatively offered a job with the IRS, the agency put the job offer on hold. It subsequently did not fill the job. A court upholds the agencies action.
An applicant for a federal job with the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) had been barred from federal employment because of a negative suitability determination by OPM. She appealed the disbarment to MSPB and signed a settlement agreement. When she did not get selected by BOP she filed a petition to get the MSPB to enforce the settlement agreement. She lost there and then went to federal court where the court agreed that she was trying to add provisions into the settlement agreement that OPM had not been willing to previously accept.
A federal employee won $40,000 in her discrimination complaint. She wasn’t happy with that result and went to court. She lost and was ordered to pay back the $40,000.
