MSBP

MSBP

If you are a federal employee, including a postal service employee, you may have the right to file for a hearing before the U.S. Merit System Protection Board (MSPB). An employee has a right to an MSPB hearing if the Agency has engaged in a prohibited personnel practice and the matter is appealable to the MSPB. If the matter is appealable to the MSPB, then the Agency will advise the employee of their right to such an appeal. In general, the only actions that are appealable to the MSPB are removals from service, suspensions of more than 14 days, reductions in grade or pay, and furloughs of 30 days or less.

According to the MSPB, it has jurisdiction over approximately 2 million federal employees or roughly about two-thirds of the full-time civilian workforce. In general, employees can appeal adverse actions and performance-based actions if they are in competitive service and have completed a probationary period and those in accepted service with at least 2 years of continuous service. Postal service employees may appeal certain adverse actions if they are preference eligible employees with one year of continuous service and certain postal service supervisors, managers, and employees engaged in personnel work.

If you have a right to appeal to the MSPB, you should keep in mind that there is a very short appeals deadline. In most cases, the appeal must be filed with the MSPB within 30 calendar days of the effective date of the action, if any, or within 30 calendar days after the date of receipt of the Agency’s decision, whichever is later. Once an appeal is filed to the MSPB, your case will be assigned to an Administrative Judge (AJ) who will issue an Acknowledgement Order to both parties. Once the Acknowledgement Order has been issued, the process may begin in earnest. The parties can seek discovery from each other, including written discoveries such as Interrogatories, Document Requests, and Requests for Admissions, as well as conducting Depositions. However, unlike the EEOC hearings, there is no “Motion for Summary Judgment” or “Motion for a Decision Without a Hearing” and almost all cases that are not settled will proceed to a hearing. The hearing will be conducted by the AJ, sometimes in person or sometimes via video link. Most hearings will take between one and two days. I have been representing federal employees for nearly a decade now and I bring a substantial amount of experience with me into the courtroom and during litigation. My experience stems from my years as an EEOC Trial Attorney and current practice representing federal employees in EEO Administrative and MSPB hearings.

If you are a federal or postal employee who is facing discrimination, harassment, retaliation/reprisal or if you are facing an EEOC hearing, do not delay. Contact Attorney Kirk J. Angel today.

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