Read summaries of court cases and decisions that impact federal employees and retirees.
Divorce can be expensive. This retired federal employee not only gave part of his annuity to his former wife, he also got notified by OPM that he had not been paying enough and that he also owed her more than $24,000 in additional money.
How much leeway does a federal employee have in publicly disagreeing with agency policy decisions?
There appears to be a significant change in direction at the Federal Labor Relations Authority. Federal agencies may like the new approach.
This federal employee went from getting good ratings to being terminated during his probationary period after he became involved in internal office politics. But, despite being a probationary employee, he will get his day in court after filing a complaint that he was fired for engaging in protected EEO activity.
How much accommodation is necessary for an agency to comply with the Rehabilitation Act? In this case, the court found that the Postal Service did not unlawfully discriminate when it placed an employee on sick leave and a court granted summary judgment for the agency.
Federal employment cases are complex. This one has been going on since 1995. It isn’t over yet. A federal court has remanded the case back to the MSPB to gather more evidence regarding reasonable accommodation and the removal of a welder by the Department of the Army.
It took four years, but the various appeals by a probationary employee who worked for the Department of Labor may be over–four years after he was separated during his probationary period.
On remand, the MSPB reconsiders its decision in an earlier decision and concludes that the removal of a GS-8 police officer was justified for refusing to carry out assigned duties.
Absence without leave (AWOL) can be a successful way to fire a federal employee–often because it is easier to prove than other charges. In this case, the employee offered various reasons why she should not be fired for being AWOL but the MSPB and court did not buy into her rationale.
A federal attorney violated the Hatch Act and the MSPB has ordered the Small Business Administration to remove him from federal service.
