The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that the deciding official’s ex parte communications in the Air Force’s termination proceedings is a violation of the due process clause.

A passport specialist at the Department of State (DOS) has argued that his fully successful performance evaluation should be considered as evidence that he consistently followed instructions.

The Federal Circuit affirmed the removal of an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employee who wrongly believed that the prohibition on disclosure of taxpayer information did not apply if the disclosure was made to her attorney.

Understand the practical application of the Federal Circut's decision in Santos v. NASA for agencies and federal managers — a Shaw Bransford & Roth attorney will explain the holding in this live webinar.

On October 8, 2021, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that federal employees can be fired for one e-mail, if the e-mail is sufficiently disrespectful. The employee appealed his removal to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).

A VA police officer was removed by the Department of Veterans Affairs under the 2017 “accountability” law 38 U.S.C. § 714 that limited review of VA’s actions against general schedule employees. The removal was based on conduct occurring prior to the enactment of the law. The employee appealed to the MSPB, and the MSPB affirmed the removal. On December 7, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated the MSPB’s decision, and remanded the case to the MSPB with instructions to remand the case further back to the agency.

The MSPB cannot consider an agency’s interpretation or presentation of evidence to decide whether an individual-right-of-action presents a non-frivolous allegation of whistleblower reprisal, the Federal Circuit clarified in a recent holding.

An NCIS investigations specialist filed suit, alleging that NCIS erroneously classified him as exempt from overtime pay, and for years denied him overtime compensation and premium pay in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). On September 24, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Court of Federal Claims’ decision, after a trial, to deny liquidated damages, despite finding that NCIS was liable for incorrectly classifying the position as FLSA-exempt.

Where an agency relies, directly or indirectly, on the results of a psychological assessment in justifying an employee’s removal, the agency must provide the employee with a meaningful opportunity to review and challenge the evidence underlying the assessment, the Federal Circuit recently held.

A dual-status military technician, whose position was partially civilian and partially military, appealed his termination for failing to maintain membership in the National Guard, a prerequisite to his dual-status appointment under 32 U.S.C. § 709(b), to the Merit Systems Protection Board. The MSPB took jurisdiction and heard the case on the merits, ultimately affirming the termination. The employee petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit for review. On August 21, 2020, the appeals court vacated the MSPB decision, finding that the Board did not have jurisdiction to hear the appeal in the first place.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that an FBI notice identifying a suspect as armed and dangerous justified an officer’s demonstration of his weapon and use of handcuffs during Terry stop and frisk.

On August 6, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court ruling that the federal judiciary has been charging unlawfully excessive fees for access to records through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system.