A Postal Service employee appealing the agency’s failure to restore her to a position after she was injured and gained new medical restrictions argued that the position she was restored to was so unreasonable as to be an effective denial of her restoration, but her appeal was limited to the time period before she was restored.

On May 23, 2016, the Merit Systems Protection Board issued its Spring newsletter, which included its adjudication statistics for Fiscal Year 15.

The Merit Systems Protection Board remanded a case to the administrative judge because the charges were not reviewed solely on the bases invoked by the agency.

Despite a negative passover decision from OPM, the Merit Systems Protection Board found that the Agency’s subsequent withdrawal of a job offer from a veteran with a 10-point preference was not improper.

On March 17, 2016, the United States Court of Federal Claims dismissed, in part, a complaint brought by current and former Physical Security Specialists employed by the United States Secret Service, who claimed that the agency engaged in unlawful scheduling and recordkeeping practices in order to deny overtime pay.

A former federal employee’s confusion over what he was contesting in a disability retirement appeal did not entitle him to a finding of good cause for the lengthy delay in filing an appeal of his removal.

The United States Supreme Court reached a 4-4 split in deciding whether non-union members could be charged compulsory fees via an agency shop agreement in public sector unions.

Years after the furlough, the Merit Systems Protection Board affirmed the Navy’s use of the furlough on a number of employees contesting the furlough’s applicability to their positions.

The full Merit Systems Protection Board disagreed with an MSPB administrative judge regarding the reasonableness of the penalty of removal after an employee admitted to using marijuana.

An annuitant collecting a survivor benefit claimed she had not been returned to status quo ante following OPM’s unilateral rescission of its final decision during her MSPB appeal, and the Board remanded the case to determine whether true status quo ante had been achieved.

Although the Merit Systems Protection Board found little evidence of retaliatory motive on the part of the Agency, the Veterans Benefits Administration presented insufficient evidence to show that it would have canceled an employee’s duties as Program Manager regardless of her disclosure that she believed Federal Acquisition Regulations had been violated.

An employee who produced new evidence to the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) and had a new case opened had a renewed right to an individual right of action appeal after OSC issued a new close-out letter, found the Merit Systems Protection Board.

The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) suspended a Contracting Officer Representative for 30 days after alleging that the employee created the appearance of a conflict of interest and failed to disclose an outside business venture, but the Merit Systems Protection Board reversed an administrative judge’s initial decision upholding the penalty, finding that no appearance of a conflict of interest had been created and that the employee had no prior duty to disclose the outside activity at issue.

In anticipation of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, the United States Office of Special Counsel issued updated guidance regarding federal employee use of social media and email concerning presidential candidates.

The MSPB affirmed the Office of Personnel Management’s decision to deny a lump-sum payment of retirement contributions to an adult designated beneficiary due to the existence of a minor child entitled to monthly annuity payments.

An anti-subrogation regulation in Kansas preventing insurers from issuing policies containing subrogation clauses came into conflict with the Federal Employees Health Benefit Act (“FEHBA”), but the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that federal common law preempted the Kansas regulation.

The MSPB canceled the two indefinite suspensions of a former Army aircraft mechanical parts worker and ordered the agency to pay the employee back pay with interest and other benefits.