NOTE: This disposition is nonprecedential.

 

United States Court of Appeals 

for the Federal Circuit ______________________ 

JAIME VILLARUEL,

Petitioner

v.

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT,

Respondent

______________________ 

2018-1199

______________________ 

Petition for review of the Merit Systems Protection 

Board in No. SF-0831-17-0457-I-1.

______________________ 

Decided: September 7, 2018

______________________ 

JAIME VILLARUEL, San Juan San Narciso, Zambales, 

Philippines, pro se. 

 KELLY A. KRYSTYNIAK, Commercial Litigation Branch, 

Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, 

Washington, DC, for respondent. Also represented by 

DEBORAH ANN BYNUM, ROBERT EDWARD KIRSCHMAN, JR.,

CHAD A. READLER. 

 ______________________ 

Before DYK, WALLACH, and HUGHES, Circuit Judges.
2 VILLARUEL v. OPM

PER CURIAM. 

Jaime Villaruel petitions for review of a final decision 

of the Merit Systems Protection Board (“Board”). The 

Board sustained the Office of Personnel Management’s 

(“OPM”) denial of Mr. Villaruel’s application for an annuity under the Civil Service Retirement System (“CSRS”). 

We affirm. 

BACKGROUND

Mr. Villaruel was employed as a painter for the U.S. 

Naval Ship Repair Facility in Subic Bay, Philippines from 

April 10, 1969, to November 8, 1969, and then from 

January 11, 1971, through March 21, 1992. His employment in 1969 was a temporary part-time excepted appointment; from January 11, 1971, to June 26, 1976, it 

was a term excepted appointment; and from June 27, 

1976, through March 21, 1992, it was a continuous and 

indefinite excepted appointment. The only appointment 

form (SF-50) in Mr. Villaruel’s record indicates his retirement code as “4-None.”

On September 3, 2016, Mr. Villaruel filed an application for deferred retirement under the CSRS seeking an 

annuity for his civilian service from April 10, 1969, 

through March 21, 1992. On February 1, 2017, OPM 

denied his request, determining that Mr. Villaruel was 

not entitled to an annuity because “none of [his] service 

was covered service” under the Civil Service Retirement 

Act (“CSRA”). App’x 19.

Mr. Villaruel appealed OPM’s decision to the Board. A 

Board Administrative Judge (“AJ”) affirmed the denial, 

concluding that none of Mr. Villaruel’s service constituted 

“covered service” under the CSRA and that 5 C.F.R. 

§ 831.303(a) did not otherwise entitle him to an annuity 

for his “creditable service.” Mr. Villaruel did not request 

full Board review of the AJ’s decision, and thus the initial 

decision became the final decision of the Board. 
VILLARUEL v. OPM 3

Mr. Villaruel seeks review in this court. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 7703(b)(1) and 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1295(a)(9). 

DISCUSSION

The scope of this court’s review of a Board decision is 

limited. We only set aside the Board’s decision if it was 

“(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). An individual who applies to 

OPM for retirement benefits must prove entitlement to 

the benefits by a preponderance of the evidence. 5 C.F.R. 

1201.56(b)(2)(ii). 

“To qualify for a civil service retirement annuity, a 

government employee ordinarily must complete at least 

five years of creditable service, and at least one of the two 

years prior to separation must be ‘covered service,’ i.e., 

service that is subject to the [CSRA].” Quiocson v. Office of 

Pers. Mgmt., 490 F.3d 1358, 1360 (Fed. Cir. 2007); 

5 U.S.C. § 8333(a)–(b). Although nearly all federal service 

is “creditable service,” it has long been established that 

temporary, term, and indefinite excepted appointments 

are not “covered service.” See Rosete v. Office of Pers. 

Mgmt., 48 F.3d 514, 518–19 (Fed. Cir. 1995) (interpreting 

5 C.F.R. § 831.201(a)). Although Rosete did not address 

the regulation on which Mr. Villaruel relies (5 C.F.R. 

§ 831.303(a)), this court has since held that § 831.303(a)

did not “alter the definition of covered service, or convert 

creditable service into covered service.” Lledo v. Office of 

Pers. Mgmt., 886 F.3d 1211, 1213–14 (Fed. Cir. 2018).1

 

1 Before Lledo, numerous non-precedential decisions of this court similarly held that 5 C.F.R. 

§ 831.303(a) does not change the requirements for estab-
4 VILLARUEL v. OPM

Instead, the regulation merely “allows those already 

covered by the [CSRA] to include certain creditable service 

in calculating the[ir] annuity.” Id. at 1214 (citation omitted).

Mr. Villaruel only served in temporary, term, and indefinite excepted appointments during his civilian service 

(1969 to 1992). Even if his service constituted “creditable 

service,” the Board properly determined that none of his

service constituted “covered service.” Because Mr. Villaruel failed to establish that he performed “covered service” during his employment, particularly during one of 

the last two years preceding his separation in 1992, and 

because § 831.303(a) is not a basis for coverage under the 

CSRA, Mr. Villaruel is not entitled to a CSRS retirement 

annuity. See Lledo, 886 F.3d at 1214; 5 U.S.C. § 8333(b). 

We have considered Mr. Villaruel’s additional arguments and find them similarly without merit. 

AFFIRMED

COSTS

No costs.

 

lishing coverage under the CSRA. See e.g., Dullas v. Office 

of Pers. Mgmt., 708 F. App’x 672, 674 (Fed. Cir. 2017); 

Hocson v. Office of Pers. Mgmt., 662 F. App’x 922, 924–25 

(Fed. Cir. 2016); Garcia v. Office of Pers. Mgmt., 660 F. 

App’x 930, 932 (Fed. Cir. 2016); Dominico v. Office of Pers. 

Mgmt., 626 F. App’x 270, 272–73 (Fed. Cir. 2015); Orcino 

v. Office of Pers. Mgmt., 482 F. App’x 586, 588 (Fed. Cir. 

2012); Fontilla v. Office of Pers. Mgmt., 482 F. App’x 563, 

565 (Fed. Cir. 2012); Aquino v. Office of Pers. Mgmt., 451 

F. App’x 941, 944 (Fed. Cir. 2011); Rosimo v. Office of 

Pers. Mgmt., 448 F. App’x 60, 62 (Fed. Cir. 2011).