The Merit Systems Protection Board recently split on whether
a postal employee who twice told his supervisor that he
would “go ballistic” if he was not granted requested leave
and allegedly threatened another worker with a knife was
entitled to challenge a resignation settlement agreement
containing a provision that the employee agreed to waive any
appeal rights.
When the employee appealed, contending that his resignation
was coerced, an administrative law judge found, noting the
alleged severity of the employee’s behavior, that as the
employee filed his appeal almost three years after the
resignation and he voluntarily resigned, the employee did
not advance any non-frivolous arguments to challenge his
waiver of appeal rights.
On appeal to the MSPB, the Board split. The Board chairman
desired to affirm the administrative law judge’s findings
arguing that the employee’s coercion allegations were
unsupported and found evidence in the record that the
employee did confront a co-worker with a knife. Another
Board member wanted to reverse the administrative law
judge’s finding arguing that the employee non-frivolously
alleged that his resignation was coerced based on the
member’s perception that the employee was misled about his
appeal rights, specifically, the employee’s limited right
to contest the agency’s assertion of breach of the
settlement agreement. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit will hear any appeal. Get Full Text