Fedweek

A federal employee ordered by a Merit Systems Protection Board hearing officer to present more information to support an appeal must respond or risk facing having the case dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled. The court said that although the order did not specify precisely what facts the employee was required to submit, it was clear enough to show what the employee was required to do. The court in White v. Department of Veterans Affairs said that if an employee who receives an order from a law judge is uncertain what was necessary her or she should ask for clarification or an extension of time, but must respond in some way. This is true, it said, even if the employing agency itself failed to comply with another order of the hearing officer.