At the beginning of November, Southworth PC learned it had saved another federal employee’s career. After our federal employment attorneys Shaun Southworth and Jesse Kelly tried the case before the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Board found the Agency’s removal should be mitigated and the employee should be returned to work.
Not all of the charges against our client were sustained including key charges, and as a result the reversal of the removal was warranted. The Board noted: “When the Board sustains fewer than all of the charges, as here, it may mitigate the agency’s penalty to the maximum reasonable penalty so long as the agency has not indicated in either its final decision or in proceedings before the Board that it desires that a lesser penalty be imposed on fewer charges. … The agency made no such indication here.” The Board determined the maximum reasonable penalty was less than removal, such that the employee’s removal was reversed.
“The Merit Systems Protection Board plays an important role in protecting the ‘merit system’ for our federal employees. This helps sure that serious employment decisions are merit-based and not, for instance, based on politics. This helps strengthen the federal workplace and helps protect federal employees trying to follow the law and do the right thing,” according to Managing Partner Shaun Southworth.
The law before the Merit Systems Protection Board is complex. So if you are facing a removal as a federal employee, please contact us for a complimentary legal review to see if we think we can help you. Sometimes, we can help people even if they have committed some of the misconduct or are found to have committed some of the misconduct.
Although our federal employment attorneys cannot help everyone, we are happy to help everyone we can. And if you are facing removal from your federal career, we are happy to speak with you to see if we think we can help you.