The MSPB’s January 2007 Newsletter reports that favoritism in the Federal workplace may be a big problem.

Favoritism is when a supervisor gives an edge, a financial or personnel benefit, or special treatment to some employees but not others. The MSPB Newsletter suggests that over one-third of federal employees have witnessed favoritism in career advancement opportunities, awards, training, disciplinary actions, pay, job assignments, and performance appraisals.

I see touches of favoritism in nearly every [...]

In May 2006, the Supreme Court’s Garcetti v. Ceballos decision effectively denied constitutional free speech protection to government employees who disclosed waste, fraud or abuse while carrying out their job duties.

Unfortunately for government employees and those interested in an efficient and lawful federal government, Garcetti was only another decision in a long of cases that chipped away at legal protection for whistleblowers. In a recently published article, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (which [...]

Imagine this scenario – you have a disability, and your management chain has just agreed to provide you a modified work schedule or modified work duties in order to accommodate that disability.

Your co-workers start to become curious why you’re not at work when they are, or you’re not doing the same tasks that they are. They approach your manager to ask why you are getting preferential treatment. Can your manager tell them you have a disability?

According to the [...]

Increasingly, Federal agencies are charging employees with misconduct based on “lack of candor”. This charge is what Agencies use when they can’t prove “falsification”.

Falsification is an intentional misrepresentation of some fact. It often arises in filling out some government form, or in the course of an official (or unofficial) investigation – the employee is accused of knowingly providing an incorrect answer to a question, or knowingly trying to deceive or mislead the [...]

A recent Federal Circuit decision held that the Agency breached a settlement agreement it made with its former employee.

The former employee, a USPS worker, was terminated for “Failure to Maintain a Regular Work Schedule/Tardy“. In fact, the Plaintiff suffered from Sleep Apnea, a disability that affected his breathing and sleeping and caused him to frequently arrive late for work.

In settlement of his removal appeal to the MSPB, the Postal Service [...]

During tax season, there’s nothing wrong with calling the IRS directly to ask a question. In fact, I just called yesterday on behalf of a client.

However, when you call the toll-free number, have a pen and paper handy: the very first thing that any IRS representative will tell you is their name and their Badge or Identification number. If you don’t get their name and number the first time, ask them [...]

Ulysses Hudson won a jury award of $2.5 million dollars in a suit against the Department of Homeland Security. In that suit, he claimed reprisal for filing complaints of harassment and discrimination.

Hudson, a black Intelligence Research Specialist, first sued the agency in 2001, claiming racial harassment by managers and co-workers. The harassment consisted of racial comments, putting nails in his tires, and treating him as less than an equal. That conduct caused [...]

The very general rule among many Federal agencies is that a Federal employee who is terminated during a probationary period has no MSPB appeal right, unless the employee alleges the removal was motivated by discrimination, partisan political reasons, or the employee’s marital status.

That landscape is changing very quickly. A series of Federal Circuit and MSPB decisions dating back to 1989 has started to broaden the protection available to probationary Federal Employees.