A federal appeals court has upheld a decision by the MSPB that a former employee waited too long to assert that his agency had violated a settlement agreement reached after the agency had proposed to fire him.
Among terms of the agreement, according to an MSPB summary, was that the person’s SF-50 form would indicate that he had resigned voluntarily and that he would review the form and notify the agency of any concerns within 15 days.
However, 14 years later, the former employee argued that the agency had breached the agreement by designating his separation as “resignation in lieu of involuntary action.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit agreed with the merit board that the individual failed to establish good cause for his untimely filing because his failure to maintain a copy of the parties’ settlement agreement, as well as his apparent failure to compare the SF-50 with the settlement agreement at the time he received the documents, was less than diligent.
It also agreed that there was no evidence of fraud by the agency that might have justified a challenge beyond the deadline. The agreement itself obligated the individual to review the form and to notify the agency of any concerns, the court noted.