Read summaries of court cases and decisions that impact federal employees and retirees.
For a harassment claim to succeed, among other things the plaintiff has to show that her employer knew (or should have known) about the harassment and did nothing to stop it. In this case, the atmosphere in the federal group sounded like a script from a popular sitcom. But the employee waited several months to complain. The end result was a summary judgment decision for the agency.
An Army EEO manager was erroneously issued a travel check and told not to cash it. But she cashed it and told the agency she had not received it. The official was fired and argued on appeal that it was her first offense so she should be able to keep her federal job. The court didn’t buy the argument.
A former federal employee who was fired by the Air Force and went through an appeal with the MSPB applied for a job with the IRS and started work there. OPM discovered his removal and told the IRS to remove him. The errant former fed contended he did not realize he had been fired from the Air Force job.
When the former wife of a retired federal employee was given 53% of his monthly annuity payment, the retired fed was unhappy with OPM so he appealed to MSPB and then to a federal court. After all the litigation: the federal retiree gets less than his former wife.
An employee of the Internal Revenue Service was fired for three years of questionable tax returns. She tried to convince the agency and third parties the problem was with her tax preparer. A federal court was not convinced and the errant IRS employee remains off the agency’s payroll.
A federal employee who lost her security clearance was reassigned and subsequently issued an indefinite suspension because she was no longer qualified for her regular position. The employee argued the agency took too long to take action but a federal court does not agree.
It’s not a good day at an appellate agency when a court writes: “We explain these reasons in some detail in hopes that the MSPB and litigants before the MSPB will better understand the applicable law.” The court upheld the firing of a former Secret Service agent for not having the required security clearance.
Any active or retired federal employee who took military leave for reserve activities may get extra money.
Deep Throat was an anonymous source for information given to the Washington Post about former President Richard Nixon. Deep Throat was an anonymous federal employee with inside information. The saga continues with disputes about the large amount of money that may be reaped from the story.
A federal employee can sometimes challenge a disciplinary or adverse action through arbitration instead of going to MSPB. That happened in this case and the employee was apparently disappointed when the arbitrator upheld his removal for inappropriate conduct. The employee then went to court to try and get the arbitration decision tossed out but the court found that a table of penalties is a guide and not binding on the agency and he remains fired.
