Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca13-19-02232/USCOURTS-ca13-19-02232-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Department of the Navy
Respondent
Francisco Cunanan Pamintuan
Petitioner

Document Text:

NOTE: This disposition is nonprecedential.

 

United States Court of Appeals 

for the Federal Circuit ______________________ 

FRANCISCO CUNANAN PAMINTUAN,

Petitioner

v.

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY,

Respondent

______________________ 

2019-2232

______________________ 

Petition for review of the Merit Systems Protection 

Board in No. SF-1221-19-0179-W-1.

______________________ 

Decided: February 4, 2020

______________________ 

FRANCISCO CUNANAN PAMINTUAN, Port Hueneme, CA, 

pro se. 

 NATHANAEL YALE, Commercial Litigation Branch, 

Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for respondent. Also represented by JOSEPH H.

HUNT, TARA K. HOGAN, ROBERT EDWARD KIRSCHMAN, JR. 

______________________ 

Before PROST, Chief Judge, LOURIE and CLEVENGER,

Circuit Judges.

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2 PAMINTUAN v. NAVY

PER CURIAM. 

Francisco Cunanan Pamintuan petitions for review of 

a decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board (“Board”) 

denying Mr. Pamintuan’s request for corrective action under the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act

(“WPA”) against the Department of the Navy (“agency”). 

See Pamintuan v. Dep’t of the Navy, No. SF-1221-19-0179-

W-1, 2019 WL 2121458 (M.S.P.B. May 10, 2019) (“Decision”). We affirm. 

I 

Mr. Pamintuan worked as a Supervisory Contract Specialist at the agency’s Naval Base Ventura County and 

oversaw a team of Contract Specialists. At the time, Mr. 

Pamintuan had a Contracting Officer warrant, which was 

necessary for him to perform his job as a supervisor.

During the 2015 fiscal year, Mr. Pamintuan’s team was 

understaffed, had difficulty reaching timeline requirements, and faced internal pressure to meet the timeline requirements. As a result, Mr. Pamintuan directed his 

subordinates to award contracts without preparing the required documentation, including awarding contracts without Pre or Post Negotiation Memorandums (“PNM”). 

In August 2015, Mr. Pamintuan spoke with a ranking 

officer, Commander Paul Chan, regarding executing contracts without following the proper procedures. Commander Chan asked Mr. Pamintuan to prepare a draft 

email for Commander Chan to send to management officials to explain they were “not PMAP [Process Management and Audit Program] ready because [they] did not 

have business documentation printed and in the files.”1 

1 The Administrative Judge (“AJ”) found that PMAP 

ready referred to Mr. Pamintuan’s department being 

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App.2 76. On August 27, 2015, Mr. Pamintuan sent the 

requested draft email to Commander Chan. Of relevance, 

this draft email included the language, “I’m tasking . . . 

[Mr. Pamintuan] that execution is more important and to 

just catch-up on business documentations later.” Decision, 

slip op. at 3.

On September 2, 2015, Commander Chan sent a revised draft to Mr. Pamintuan and Mr. Pamintuan’s direct 

superior. He never, however, sent the email to management officials. Of relevance, the email noted that Commander Chan “tasked . . . Mr. Franc Pamintuan . . . to 

execute . . . actions at the risk of business documentations.” 

Id. at 3–4. Instead of emailing management officials, Commander Chan called Renae Kvendru, the Chief of Contracting Office. On this call, Commander Chan told Ms. 

Kvendru that they were not PMAP ready. Ms. Kvendru 

expressed serious concern. 

On September 9, 2015, Ms. Kvendru received an anonymous email, which Mr. Pamintuan later claimed to have 

sent. The email noted that “we are being told to award contracts with no business documentation being done. [W]e 

are awarding contracts before we even determaine [sic] fair 

and reasonable.” Id. at 4–5. 

Upon receiving the September 9, 2015 email, Ms. 

Kvendru ordered an onsite investigation. Following the 

findings of the onsite investigation, a command investigation was conducted. As part of this investigation Mr. Pamintuan was interviewed. In his interview, Mr. 

Pamintuan provided Commander Chan’s September 2, 

“ready for an internal inspection of the agency’s business 

documentation.” Decision, slip op. at 26 n.7. 

2 We use “App.” to refer to the “Corrected Appendix 

for Informal Brief” submitted by the Government. No other 

appendices were submitted.

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4 PAMINTUAN v. NAVY

2015 draft email and stated that this email showed that 

Commander Chan improperly tasked him to execute tenants’ funded actions at the risk of business documentation. 

To Mr. Pamintuan, this meant “to issue contract awards 

although the documentations required by regulation to process the awards were incomplete.” Id. at 6. Commander

Chan was also interviewed and stated that he thought that

“[d]ocuments were not getting printed out in a timely manner to complete the contract file.” App. 76–77.

The command investigation ended on November 23, 

2015. The accompanying report concluded, among other 

things, that: 

The allegation that PWD Ventura PEAD was 

awarding contracts without properly documenting 

the business decision was substantiated. The contract specialists and contracting officers responsible for preparing the documents have stated they 

were awarding contracts without first preparing 

the Pre/Post Negotiation Memorandum (PNM).

The allegation that PWD Ventura Public Works Officer (PWO) and Deputy Public Works Officer 

(DPWO) demanded, encouraged, or condoned the 

awarding of contracts without determining pricing 

fair and reasonableness or documenting the business decision is unsubstantiated. While there was 

significant leadership pressure to make execution 

goals even with limited staffing, the evidence did 

not show that leadership demanded, encouraged, 

or condoned deliberate evasion of statutory or regulatory requirements. 

Decision, slip op. at 6.

The investigation report also recommended that the 

agency “[i]ssue appropriate disciplinary action to” Commander Chan, Mr. Pamintuan, and others, including the 

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Deputy Public Works Officer and the FEAD Director. Id.

at 6–7.

Prior to any disciplinary action, Mr. Pamintuan took a 

two-year Supervisory Contract Specialist position at Guantanamo Bay. In this role he retained return rights to his 

Supervisory Contract Specialist position at Ventura. His 

Contracting Officer warrant at Ventura, however, was administratively terminated because he was leaving for 

Guantanamo Bay. App. 139.

On Mr. Pamintuan’s last day working at Ventura he

received a Letter of Reprimand for Inattention to Duty pertaining to his failure to ensure that proper business documentation was completed. Others were disciplined as well. 

For instance, the Deputy Public Works Officer received a 

Letter of Reprimand, while Commander Chan and the 

FEAD Director both had their Contracting Officer warrants terminated. 

Mr. Pamintuan exercised his return rights and on February 24, 2017, returned to his Supervisory Contract Specialist position at Ventura. Mr. Pamintuan was unable to 

return to his former duties, however, because Ms. Kvendru 

refused to grant him a new Contracting Officer warrant. 

On March 6, 2017, feeling “shunned, belittled, and treated 

as a non-entity” because of “deliberate, on-going retaliatory 

harassment,” Mr. Pamintuan sought retirement effective 

September 30, 2017. Decision, slip op. at 15. Mr. Pamintuan then went on paid leave from March 6, 2017 until 

his effective retirement date. 

Following his retirement, Mr. Pamintuan sought unemployment benefits. After being initially denied, Mr. Pamintuan appealed to the California Unemployment 

Insurance Appeals Board (“CUIAB”). The CUIAB found 

that Mr. Pamintuan was entitled to unemployment benefits “because he was subjected to an illegal discriminatory 

act” and therefore had good cause for leaving. App. 162–

63. 

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Mr. Pamintuan then filed an individual right of action 

appeal at the Merit Systems Protection Board. After finding the jurisdiction requirements satisfied, the AJ found 

that Mr. Pamintuan (1) “proved by a preponderance of the 

evidence he engaged in protected activity” when he provided the September 2, 2015 email during the command 

investigation; (2) “established he experienced covered personnel actions” when he received the Letter of Reprimand, 

was detailed to Contract Specialist duties, and had his reinstatement request for his Contracting Officer warrant

denied; and (3) “established by a preponderance of the evidence his protected activity was a contributing factor in the 

personnel actions.” Decision, slip op. at 10, 13, 18–19. The 

AJ, however, rejected Mr. Pamintuan’s argument that his

‘involuntary’ retirement was a covered personnel action. 

Id. at 17–18.

The AJ then analyzed the three factors laid out in Carr 

v. Social Security Administration, 185 F.3d 1318 (Fed. Cir. 

1999), to determine whether the agency would have taken 

the same personnel actions if Mr. Pamintuan had not made

the protected disclosure. After analyzing these factors and 

based on the record before it, the AJ found that the agency

would have taken the same personnel actions had Mr. Pamintuan not made his protected disclosure. The AJ also 

rejected Mr. Pamintuan’s argument that because he was 

ordered to execute contracts without PNM, he should not 

be disciplined. Ultimately, Mr. Pamintuan’s request for 

corrective action was denied. 

On June 14, 2019, the initial decision became final and 

Mr. Pamintuan timely petitioned for our review. We have 

jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(9).

II

On petition for review Mr. Pamintuan challenges only 

portions of the decision. He argues that the AJ (1) incorrectly incorporated a mitigation analysis into whether the 

agency met its burden in establishing that it would have 

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PAMINTUAN v. NAVY 7

taken the same actions had he not made his protected disclosure; (2) incorrectly found that his actions were not excused when he was allegedly following orders from his 

superior; and (3) incorrectly found that his retirement was 

not a covered personnel action. 

A 

Our review is limited and requires us to affirm unless 

the Board’s decision is “(1) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse 

of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law; 

(2) obtained without procedures required by law, rule, or 

regulation having been followed; or (3) unsupported by substantial evidence.” 5 U.S.C. § 7703(c). Whether a decision 

is in accordance with the law “refers to the application of 

the wrong legal standard, and the application of the law is

reviewed de novo.” Rodriguez v. Sec’y of HHS, 632 F.3d 

1381, 1384 (Fed. Cir. 2011). Substantial evidence refers to

“relevant evidence [that] a reasonable mind might accept 

as adequate to support a conclusion.” McLaughlin v. Office 

of Pers. Mgmt., 353 F.3d 1363, 1369 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (internal quotations removed). 

Under the WPA, “[i]f the employee establishes [a] 

prima facie case of reprisal for whistleblowing, the burden 

of persuasion shifts to the agency to show by clear and convincing evidence that it would have taken ‘the same personnel action in the absence of such disclosure.’” Whitmore 

v. Dep’t of Labor, 680 F.3d 1353, 1367 (Fed. Cir. 2012) 

(quoting 5 U.S.C. § 1221(e)); see also Nelson v. Dep’t of the 

Army, 658 F. App’x 1036, 1038–39 (Fed. Cir. 2016). To determine whether the agency would have engaged in the 

same personnel action absent the protected disclosure, the 

Carr factors are analyzed. Whitmore, 680 F.3d at 1368. 

These factors include, (1) “the strength of the agency’s evidence in support of its personnel action;” (2) “the existence 

and strength of any motive to retaliate on the part of the 

agency officials who were involved in the decision;” and 

(3) “any evidence that the agency [took] similar actions 

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against employees who [were] not whistleblowers but who 

[were] otherwise similarly situated.” Carr, 185 F.3d at 

1323. 

B 

On petition for review Mr. Pamintuan argues that the 

AJ incorrectly incorporated a mitigation analysis into 

whether the agency would have acted the same way absent 

Mr. Pamintuan’s protected disclosure. He argues it was 

improper for the AJ to find that the “agency officials had 

some motive to retaliate against [Mr. Pamintuan], but . . . 

not find that motive to be significant at the time it took the 

personnel actions at issue.” Pet’r’s Br. 4. We disagree.

The second Carr factor focuses on the existence and 

strength of any motive to retaliate on the part of the agency 

officials who were involved in the alleged reprisal. See 

Carr, 185 F.3d at 1323. Thus, contrary to Mr. Pamintuan’s 

contentions on petition for review, weighing the strength of

the motive of those who influenced the alleged reprisal decision is part of the analysis. See, e.g., Swartwoudt v. Dep’t 

of Homeland Sec., 694 F. App’x 776, 779 (Fed. Cir. 2017) 

(finding that “[a]gency officials had weak motivation to retaliate against [petitioner]”). We find that the AJ’s analysis is in accordance with the law.

C 

Mr. Pamintuan also argues that the AJ improperly rejected his “obey-now, grieve-later” defense. See Pet’r’s Br. 

6. He argues that Commander Chan’s September 2, 2015

email establishes that Commander Chan ordered him to 

execute contract actions without PNM. Therefore, Mr. Pamintuan argues that he cannot be disciplined because he 

was following orders. The AJ, however, disagreed that 

Commander Chan ordered Mr. Pamintuan to execute contract actions without PNM. To support her finding, the AJ 

relied on Commander Chan’s command investigation interview and Commander Chan’s revisions to the draft email 

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PAMINTUAN v. NAVY 9

that Mr. Pamintuan sent to Commander Chan. The AJ 

found that at most Commander Chan tasked Mr. Pamintuan with “putting aside filing requirements.” Decision, slip op. at 26.

Mr. Pamintuan’s argument asks us to reweigh the evidence and credit his positions. For instance, he argues that 

it was improper for the AJ to “simply assume[] Mr. Chan 

[in his command investigation interview] was truthful.” 

Pet’r’s Br. 13–14. He suggests that “[i]t is understandable 

that Mr. Chan wished to fabricate a cover story to protect 

himself . . . .” Id. at 13. He also argues that the anonymous 

September 9, 2015 email further shows that Commander

Chan ordered him to execute contracts without proper 

PNM. 

Our review, however, is based on whether substantial 

evidence supports the AJ’s finding. See Hansen v. Dep’t of 

Homeland Sec., 911 F.3d 1362, 1369 (Fed. Cir. 2018) 

(“[O]ur sole inquiry is whether substantial evidence supports the Board’s finding . . . [and] we do not reweigh evidence.”). The AJ’s decision demonstrates that she

considered the command investigation (see Decision, slip 

op. at 25–26) and the revisions that Commander Chan 

made to the draft email (see id. at 26 n.6). Upon a review 

of the record, we find that substantial evidence supports 

the AJ’s finding. 

D 

Mr. Pamintuan also argues that the AJ incorrectly 

found that his retirement was not a covered personnel action. He argues that the AJ improperly required him to 

“always stand [remain on the job] and fight” Pet’r’s Br. 

21–22 (emphasis and bracketed text in original). He also 

argues that the AJ failed to give the CUIAB’s finding preclusive effect. 

Contrary to Mr. Pamintuan’s argument, the AJ did not 

require Mr. Pamintuan to remain at his job indefinitely to

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fight. Instead, the AJ correctly required Mr. Pamintuan to 

show that he lacked a meaningful choice in his retirement. 

See, e.g., Decision, slip op. at 14 (citing Bean v. U.S. Postal 

Serv., 120 M.S.P.R. 397, ¶ 11 (2013)). Against this standard, the AJ found that Mr. Pamintuan “supplied no evidence the agency did anything other than reassign him and 

treat him as an employee in the reassigned position” and 

that he did not prove that he “was subject to intolerable 

working conditions that would have left a reasonable person without a choice but to retire.” Decision, slip op. at 18. 

We do not find fault in the AJ’s analysis. 

Mr. Pamintuan also argues that the CUIAB decision 

should have preclusive effect. In addition to disagreeing 

about the preclusive effect a CUIAB decision should have, 

the Government suggests that we lack jurisdiction in this 

case because the CUIAB allegedly found that Mr. Pamintuan “was subjected to national origin discrimination 

by the Navy.” Resp’t’s Br. 10–12. The Government points 

to Perry v. Merit Systems Protection Board, 137 S. Ct. 1975 

(2017), for the proposition that if this case includes a national origin discrimination claim, then this is a “mixed 

case” over which we lack jurisdiction. Id. at 11–12.

While we agree that we would not have jurisdiction if 

this were a mixed case, we find that, given the particular 

facts of this case, this is not a mixed case. As Perry notes, 

“[t]he key to district court review . . . was the employee’s 

clai[m] that an agency action appealable to the MSPB violates an antidiscrimination statute listed in § 7702(a)(1).” 

137 S. Ct. at 1984 (emphasis and internal quotations removed). Given the record at hand, we do not find Mr. Pamintuan is claiming that the agency violated an 

antidiscrimination statute listed in § 7702(a)(1). 

First, Mr. Pamintuan provided in his amended Federal 

Circuit Rule 15(c) statement that “[n]o claim of discrimination by reason of race, sex, age, national origin, or handicapped condition [i.e., those listed in § 7702(a)(1)] has been 

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PAMINTUAN v. NAVY 11

or will be made in this case” and that “[a]ny claim of discrimination by reason of race, sex, age, national origin, or 

handicapped condition . . . has been abandoned or will not 

be raised or continued in this or any other court.” Pamintuan v. Dept’ of the Navy, No. 19-2232, Amended Statement Concerning Discrimination Pursuant to Fed. Cir. 

R. 15(c), ECF No. 24 (Nov. 6, 2019). Moreover, contrary to 

the Government’s suggestion and given the record provided, we do not find that the CUIAB decision included a 

finding of national origin discrimination. The CUIAB decision notes that it awarded Mr. Pamintuan unemployment 

benefits based on an “illegal discriminatory act” but does 

not detail what this act is or if the act would be covered by

§ 7702(a)(1). See App. 162–163. Further, Sanchez v. California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, the case 

cited in the CUIAB decision (and by the AJ), found an illegal discriminatory act where the petitioner faced demotion 

in retaliation for union-related activities. 685 P.2d 61, 68–

71 (Cal. 1984). Union-related activities, however, are not 

among the types of discrimination included in § 7702(a)(1). 

Therefore, an “illegal discriminatory act” found by the 

CUIAB may be outside those enumerated in § 7702(a)(1). 

Accordingly, we decline to find that this is a mixed case. 

Similar to what this court and the Merit Systems Protection Board have found before, we do agree with the Government that the CUIAB decision does not have preclusive 

effect on the Board. See, e.g., Wade v. Dep’t of Labor, 212 

F. App’x 995, 997 (Fed. Cir. 2007) (“The CUIAB decision is 

based on California state law and is not binding upon the 

Board.”); see also Herring v. U.S. Postal Serv., 40 M.S.P.R. 

342, 346 (1989) (“decisions by state unemployment tribunals are not given collateral estoppel effect”). We therefore 

find no error in the AJ’s decision to not give the CUIAB 

decision preclusive effect. 

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III

We have considered the other arguments raised by Mr. 

Pamintuan and find them unpersuasive. For the foregoing 

reasons, we affirm the AJ’s denial of Mr. Pamintuan’s request for corrective action.

AFFIRMED

COSTS

The parties shall bear their own costs.

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