Click here for this link to PostalReporter.Com

We were told about the site by a Friend of the Firm. Though the site is dedicated primarily to postal workers, it has some really good case summaries – in 10 minutes of reading, I flagged a couple cases that I hadn’t yet heard about.

Here’s the link if you prefer to cut and paste:
http://www.postalreporter.com/legal_briefs_archives.htm

Continuing in this thread on “10 Ways to Lose an MSPB Appeal”, I will talk a little about themes. I think this particular tip “having a theme to your case” will help you more than not having a theme will hurt you.

Think about it. The MSPB hears thousands of cases each year. Each administrative judge probably handles hundreds of cases, and dozens go to hearing for each judge. After [...]

The seventh of “10 Ways to Lose an MSPB Appeal” is to fail to timely submit relevant documents prior to the hearing.

When you receive the Acknowledgment Order and/or Scheduling Order from the Judge, usually within 14-30 days of filing your appeal, there will be a section in either or both of those Orders directing you to produce “Pre-Hearing Submissions” to the Administrative Judge. Typically, Judges require this document 3-10 days before the Pre-Hearing conference, but read your Acknowledgment and [...]

To be eligible for a disability retirement annuity under  FERS or  CSRS, you must be able to show that:

1) Eligibility. You completed at least 18 months of creditable service in a position subject to FERS, or five years of creditable service in a position under the CSRS,>

2) Disability.You became disabled because of a medical condition, resulting in a service deficiency in performance, conduct, or attendance (if there is no such actual service deficiency, the disabling medical condition is incompatible with either useful and efficient service or retention [...]

In a decision issued this past Wednesday, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals held that an employee who has been indefinitely suspended has two separate MSPB Appeal rights. The first is the right to challenge the imposition of the indefinite suspension, and the second to challenge the continuation of the indefinite suspension. Rhodes v. Merit Systems Protection Board, Fed. Cir. No. 2006-3340; MSPB Docket No. NY-0752-06-0015-I-1 (May 23, 2007 ).

In Rhodes, an employee was indefinitely [...]

I’ve already posted on why the Oral Reply may be the most important part of the MSPB appeal process. (Click here to read “The Oral Reply – the Most Important Part of Your Appeal” ). In this post, I am continuing my discussion of “10 Ways to Lose an MSPB Appeal”. One sure way to help yourself lose before the MSPB is to fail to deliver an Oral Reply.

The other day, I delivered an Oral Reply on behalf [...]

In any proposal letter, there should be a section that allows you to request the “material relied on” before responding to the proposed action. It is important that you request this information, for many reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that it is much harder to get the information from the Agency in the discovery process before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).

Often times, Agencies do not provide the material relied upon – they [...]

In our continuing discussion, “10 Ways to Lose an MSPB Appeal”, I would like to turn to a common problem in Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) cases – employees want to use their MSPB appeal (or EEOC case) as a tool to get revenge .

By the time most federal employees get in touch with my Firm, they have been pretty substantially harmed by their Agency. This occurs in any number of ways: they’ve lost their job (and as a [...]

Usually, this is one of the first questions our Firm is asked when contacted by a potential new client. Here are some different examples of the attorney fees and costs an appellant might incur litigating their case before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB):

Hourly-Retainer: This is probably the most common type of fee arrangement between attorneys and federal employees. The appellant deposits an agreed upon sum of money, and the attorney places that sum in a [...]

Continuing in our series on “10 Ways to Lose an MSPB Appeal”, today we will discuss a common way to shoot yourself in the foot. Ignore a reasonable settlement offer.

A common misconception about settlement is that it means you are giving in. This is not true. Settlement is a way for two parties to put a dispute behind them by finding some middle ground. The Agency won’t get everything it wants, and the [...]