Another Attig Law Firm client has been successful in his Catch 62 appeal to the MSPB! Earlier this month, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) withdrew its decision reducing our client’s civil service annuity. OPM had previously reduced the annuity because it claimed that our clientfailed to make the military service credit deposit prior to his retirement.

Our client retired as a federal employee and began collecting a civil service annuity in the early 1990’s. [...]

An appellant before the MSPB can recover attorney fees. Many cases settle before getting to an MSPB hearing. In settlement agreements, it is common for the parties to agree on a sum that includes attorney fees, costs and expenses.

When a case doesn’t settle and goes to hearing, the appellant must be a prevailing party in order to recoup attorney fees.

After your attorney shows that you are a prevailing party, (s)he will have to show that attorney fees [...]

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 [...]

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.