UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD 

DAMAS J. ALABRE,

Appellant,

v.

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY,

Agency,

and

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL

MANAGEMENT,

Agency.

DOCKET NUMBERS

1

AT-0752-22-0176-R-1

AT-844E-22-0174-R-1

DATE: July 5, 2023

THIS ORDER IS NONPRECEDENTIAL2

Damas J. Alabre, Saint Augustine, Florida, pro se.

Lisa Zito, Miami, Florida, for the Department of Homeland Security.

Sheba Dunnings Banks, Washington, D.C., for the Office of Personnel 

Management.

 

1 We join these two appeals because doing so will expedite case processing and will not 

adversely affect the interests of the parties. 5 C.F.R. § 1201.36(b). The administrative 

judge may, on remand, sever the appeals and adjudicate them separately. 

2 A nonprecedential order is one that the Board has determined does not add 

significantly to the body of MSPB case law. Parties may cite nonprecedential orders, 

but such orders have no precedential value; the Board and administrative judges are not 

required to follow or distinguish them in any future decisions. In contrast, a 

precedential decision issued as an Opinion and Order has been identified by the Board 

as significantly contributing to the Board’s case law. See 5 C.F.R. § 1201.117(c).
2

BEFORE

Cathy A. Harris, Vice Chairman

Raymond A. Limon, Member

REMAND ORDER

¶1 For the reasons discussed below, we REOPEN on the Board’s own motion 

pursuant to 5 C.F.R. § 1201.118 the appeals of Alabre v. Department of 

Homeland Security, MSPB Docket No. AT-0752-22-0176-I-1, and Alabre v. 

Office of Personnel Management, MSPB Docket No. AT-844E-22-0174-I-1. We 

VACATE the Board’s January 27, 2023 Final Order in Alabre v. Department of 

Homeland Security, MSPB Docket No. AT-0752-22-0176-I-1, and the April 1, 

2022 initial decision in Alabre v. Office of Personnel Management, MSPB Docket 

No. AT-844E-22-0174-I-1, which became the Board’s final decision by operation 

of law. We REMAND the reopened appeals to the Atlanta Regional Office for 

further adjudication.

¶2 After the issuance of the January 27, 2023 Final Order in Alabre v. 

Department of Homeland Security, MSPB Docket No. AT-0752-22-0176-I-1, it 

was discovered that the appellant’s email address was input incorrectly into the 

Board’s case management system due to an internal clerical error and that, as a 

result, the appellant did not receive email notification of agency filings and Board 

issuances in his appeals. See 5 C.F.R. § 1201.14(j)(1). The appellant was thus

effectively denied the opportunity to prosecute his appeals. See McGuire v. U.S. 

Postal Service, 5 M.S.P.R. 54, 56 (1981) (finding that an administrative judge’s 

failure to serve an appellant with copies of requests for documentation denied the 

appellant the opportunity to timely prosecute his appeal). Under these unusual 

circumstances, we find it appropriate to reopen these appeals, vacate the Board’s 

final decisions, and remand the appeals for further adjudication. 5 C.F.R. 

§§ 1201.117-.118.
3

ORDER

¶3 For the reasons discussed above, we remand these appeals to the Atlanta 

Regional Office. On remand, the administrative judge shall ensure that the 

appellant is being properly served with Board issuances and agency submissions 

in each appeal and shall afford the parties an opportunity to develop the record, 

hold a hearing if appropriate, and issue an initial decision addressing all relevant 

issues. 

 

 

FOR THE BOARD:

Washington, D.C.

/s/ for

Jennifer Everling

Acting Clerk of the Board