After issuing 4,600 decisions, fewer than 100 cases remained from the backlog. Image: Ioana Davies (Drutu)/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe MSPB has said it is nearly finished clearing out the backlog of some 3,800 appeals that built up over the more than five years through March 2022 when it lacked a quorum.
During that time, MSPB hearing officers continued issuing decisions but the governing board could not issue decisions on them; in some cases, employees took their appeal directly into federal court instead.
“The Board began issuing decisions quickly after the quorum was restored and focused initially on issuing a range of decisions in cases that, in its discretion, the Board deemed most critical, including precedential decisions or decisions that otherwise could affect many pending cases; decisions dismissing cases as settled; and many of the oldest pending cases,” it said.
It said that over fiscal 2024, it “continued to prioritize reducing the number of cases remaining in the inherited inventory, with a focus on issuing decisions in a majority of the 1,000 oldest cases in the inherited inventory, i.e., cases that were filed with the Board before December 2019. The Board also continues to exercise its discretion to decide cases in a way that balances advancement of legal doctrines, efficiency in case processing, and other considerations inherent to adjudicatory decision making.”
As of last month, fewer than 100 cases remained from the backlog; counting new appeals since March 2022, the MSPB decided more than 4,600 appeals during that time.
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