Employee Using Government Material for Outside Employment Fired But Wins on Appeal
An Air Force employee who was fired for misuse of government resources has won his fight to keep his job.
An Air Force employee who was fired for misuse of government resources has won his fight to keep his job.
A rancher filed a lawsuit against employees of the Bureau of Land Management contending with numerous examples that he had suffered several years of harassment and intimidation because he would not grant an easement on his property. The court agreed with the government’s position that when the federal government is the “intended beneficiary of the allegedly extortionate acts,” then the act does not apply. The court concluded that the federal employees could not be sued individually for their campaign against the ownership rights of the rancher.
A federal employee who is subject to discipline will sometimes argue that the discipline was in retaliation for whistleblowing activity and that the discipline should be overturned. In this Air Force case, an employee admitted manipulating a process to steer contracts to one company but says the disciplinary action was retaliation. The court doesn’t buy it and leaves the 30-day suspension in place.
A federal attorney appealed his removal for a Hatch Act violation to the Court of Federal Appeals but his removal stands.
Multiple appeal procedures can muddle a case. In this instance, a federal employee who took leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act to care for a terminally ill husband took the leave under false pretenses. But an EEOC ruling on the employee’s harassment case complicates the issue. A federal court send the case back to the MSPB to “resolve inconsistencies, if any.”
An employee of the Social Security Administration, described in a court’s opinion as “an energetic federal employee who has previously received awards for other suggestions that were adopted by the SSA…”, has gone to court to get more money. He received awards of $1300 and $24,350 and the agency recommended a 3rd award of more than $32,000 which was rejected by OPM. The court did not mind second-guessing OPM and SSA on their handling of the suggestion process but declined to make its own determination on award amounts.
A VA employee who was placed on a performance improvement plan and given a notice of proposed removal for unacceptable performance was offered a transfer. The employee went to the MSPB and then to court arguing that the transfer was involuntary.
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has issued a precedential decision that overturns an MSPB ruling. The court found that an indefinite suspension issued as a result of criminal charges and the failure to restore a federal employee to duty following an acquittal were two different matters for appeal. The case was remanded back to the MSPB.
An Air Force employee who was transferred and then did not receive an upgrade because of poor performance decided to retire before his performance improvement plan was up. After he retired, he argued his retirement was involuntary and his case eventually went into federal court.
A manager in the VA completed his probationary period but also put him on a performance plan (PIP) because of performance deficiency. The PIP was extended a couple more times but he was ultimately fired for poor performance. The case ultimately went to court for review but the former VA employee stays fired.