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Mouton Miller, a federal employee, was promoted from an expected-service supervisory position at the United States Postal Service (USPS) to a competitive-service supervisory position at the United Stated Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Her new position, also supervisory, was subject to a one-year probationary period. During that one-year period, the DHS alleged that Mouton-Miller’s performance was unsatisfactory and informed her that she was being demoted to a non-supervisory role. She appealed the decision as an adverse action to the Merit Systems Protection Board, which dismissed her appeal on jurisdictional grounds. Since Mouton-Miller did not complete the probationary period, the Board was barred by 5 U.S.C. §7512(c) from ruling on her appeal. Mouton-Miller appealed this decision, arguing that that she could combine her time as an expected-service supervisor at the USPS with her time as a competitive-service supervisor at the DHS.  and the United States Court of Appeals affirmed the Board’s decision to deny Mouton-Miller’s appeal. The Court determined that 5 U.S.C. §7512(c) did bar the Board from adjudicating her appeal, because even though Mouton-Miller had been a federal employee for a number of years, she could not combine her years of service as an expected-service supervisor at the USPS with her time as a competitive-service supervisor at the DHS to make up for not completing the probationary period at the DHS.

 

Read the entire decision here.

http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions-orders/20-1266.OPINION.1-19-2021_1719003.pdf

Attorney Angel did not represent this federal employee, but he does represent USPS employees and DHS employees in matters before the MSPB, EEOC and the federal courts.