Case Report for January 6, 2017
Docket Number: NY-315H-13-0277-I-1
Decision Number: 2017 MSPB 4
The Appellant, after being reinstated due to being improperly terminated by the Agency during her probationary period, continued to pursue her hostile work environment and race-based discrimination claims with the Board. The Administrative Judge (AJ) struck down her hostile work environment affirmative defense, finding her allegations to be frivolous. On her second claim for alleged discrimination based on race, the AJ initially decided that she failed to show that her termination was motivated in any part by race, nor that the Agency’s reasons for termination were a pretext to race discrimination. The Appellant petitioned for review of the initial decisions, and the Board affirmed the initial decisions. The Board determined that the Appellant’s claims of sex discrimination/hostile work environment were not covered under Title VII because she only observed flirtations between two senior employees, The Board also agreed with the AJ’s conclusion that the Appellant failed to establish her race discrimination claim. Board modified the initial decisions to clarify when an AJ must hold hearings on claims of discrimination when in connection to an appealable action and to make the AJ’s decision consistent with current precedent.
Although we did not represent the Appellant in this case, The Angel Law Firm can help represent employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs in hearings done by MSPB.