The issue often arises, when employees move from one federal agency to another, as to whether they may be required to serve a new probationary period, even if the employee successfully completed a probationary period at the former agency. In a 2002 decision, McCormick v. Dept. of the Air Force, 307 F.2d 1339 (Fed. Cir. 2002), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overruled an MSPB decision which had held that it had no jurisdiction over an employee’s appeal because the employee was a probationer when terminated.
Specifically, Ms. McCormick, a nonprobationary competitive service employee at the Department of Health and Human Services voluntarily sought a new position with the Air Force. The SF-50 appointing Ms. McCormick to the new position stated she was subject to a new one-year probationary period. Ms. McCormick was terminated during her probationary period and her appeal to the MSPB was rejected on the grounds that as a probationer she only had limited appeal rights. The Federal Circuit originally upheld the Board, but then reversed on re-hearing, finding that under 5 USC
