Claim for Overtime and Mileage Leads to Removal–Court Overturns MSPB
“We are at a loss to understand how an employee could be said to engage in misconduct by submitting an overtime claim based on an estimate so long as the estimate was reasonable.”
Court Cases
Read summaries of court cases and decisions that impact federal employees and retirees.
“Substantial Evidence” Upholds Removal for Positive Results on Random Drug Test
A federal employee who was fired as a result of a positive drug test stays fired upo9n appeal despite the employee paying for a subsequent polygraph and drug tests.
Using Taxpayer Records for Personal Reasons Leads to Removal
An agency has a core mission. An employee’s action in one agency may be a relatively minor problem; in another agency it may be a firing offense. The Internal Revenue Service has strict rules about accessing taxpayer records–presumably because taxpayer records are related to its core mission. When this IRS employee accessed these records for personal reasons, she was fired despite her contention a medical condition was the basis for the problem.
Overtime Pay and Federal Employees
Employees of the Bureau of Prisons argued that they were entitled to overtime pay. They lost before the Court of Claims and a federal appeals court decision leads to a similar conclusion.
Warring Congressmen: Who Will Pay These Attorneys’ Fees?
Congressman Boehner has been awarded damages against Congressman McDermott. McDermott has been ordered to pay the other Congressman more than $1 million in attorneys’ fees.
Random Drug Test Leads to Removal
A Navy firefighter who was fired for failing a random drug test has failed to convince the MSPB or a federal court to overturn his removal.
Suing Federal Co-Workers Is Usually Waste of Time
“Some aggrieved federal employees like to sue co-workers and supervisors in their individual capacity. In most cases this is basically a waste of time.”
Temporary or Permanent: What’s In a Name?
A temporary employee applied for a permanent job and was selected–even though the announcement indicated the job was not open to temporary employees. She lost the job as a result so the employee filed an appeal contending that since she was now in a permanent job, she now had full appeal rights. The case went to federal court as the former temp tried to expand the coverage of the federal employee appeal process but the court did not buy the argument.
Court Sends Case Back to MSPB For Penalty Review
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.”
Court Upholds Removal After Employee Failed to Reveal Problems With Former Employer
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.
