The Merit Systems Protection Board recently split over
whether a former Internal Revenue Service Tax Examining
Assistant involuntarily retired after the agency issued
a notice proposing her removal for failing to perform
critical elements of her position.
After the assistant retired following the removal proposal,
the assistant filed an appeal alleging that she had
involuntarily retired after agency officials told her that
if she did not voluntarily retire, she would be terminated
and lose benefits. An administrative law judge agreed,
finding her retirement involuntary, and the agency appealed
to the Board. Though retirement is typically not subject
to Board review because it is presumed voluntary, MSPB may
hear such a case if the employee demonstrates the decision
to retire was the product of agency supplied misinformation.
One Board member found the assistant’s allegations
sufficient to demonstrate she had been misled by the agency,
and the other found that because her decision to retire was
voluntary in the face of her allegedly poor performance,
the Board could not hear her appeal.
The full text of the decision can be found here:
