NOTE: This disposition is nonprecedential. 

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 

2007-3116 

WALTER ROSADO, 

Petitioner, 

v. 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, 

BUREAU OF CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, 

Respondent. 

Walter Rosado, of New York, New York, pro se. 

Carrie A. Dunsmore, Trial Attorney, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, 

United States Department of Justice, of Washington, DC, for respondent. With her on 

the brief were Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General, Jeanne E. Davidson, 

Director, and Kathryn A. Bleecker, Assistant Director. 

Appealed from: Arbitrator Decision
NOTE: This disposition is nonprecedential. 

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 

2007-3116 

WALTER ROSADO, 

 Petitioner, 

v. 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, BUREAU OF CUSTOMS AND BORDER 

PROTECTION, 

 Respondent. 

____________________________ 

DECIDED: August 8, 2007 

____________________________ 

 

Before NEWMAN, LOURIE, and LINN, Circuit Judges. 

PER CURIAM. 

DECISION 

 Walter Rosado appeals from the decision of an arbitrator dismissing his 

grievance and affirming the Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Customs and 

Border Protection’s (the “agency’s”), decision to terminate Rosado’s employment. 

Because the arbitrator’s decision was supported by substantial evidence and in 

accordance with law, we affirm. 
BACKGROUND 

 Rosado was employed by the agency from 1992 until his termination in 2005, at 

which time he held the position of Senior Immigration Inspector. In May 2003, 

Supervisory Immigration Inspector Desiree Lowe reported that Rosado had sexually 

assaulted her in August and November of 2000. Following an investigation, Rosado 

was served a letter on September 8, 2004 proposing to terminate his employment 

based upon a charge of Inappropriate Conduct of a Sexual Nature supported by six 

specifications, including three separate sexual assaults of Lowe. After consideration of 

the investigative report and Rosado’s oral and written replies, Area Director Susan 

Mitchell sustained the charge and all six specifications. In determining the appropriate 

penalty, Mitchell considered the Douglas factors, including Rosado’s position as a law 

enforcement officer who carried a weapon, and concluded that termination was the 

appropriate sanction. See Douglas v. VA, 5 M.S.P.R. 280 (1980). The agency served 

Rosado a termination letter dated July 27, 2005, that terminated his employment 

effective August 5, 2005. 

Rosado invoked arbitration through Local 1917 on August 5, 2005. The 

arbitration hearing took place on August 10 and 11, 2006, and the arbitrator issued her 

decision on December 7, 2006. The arbitrator found the agency had met its burden of 

proving five of the six specifications, and did not make a finding as to the other 

specification. She also found that the agency’s table of offenses and penalties was only 

one factor in assessing the reasonableness of a penalty. Thus, the arbitrator concluded 

that although the table suggested a maximum penalty of a thirty-day suspension for 

2007-3116 -2- 
offenses of a type similar to those committed by Rosado, the penalty of removal was 

reasonable in light of Rosado’s actions. 

Rosado appealed to this court, and we have jurisdiction pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

§§ 7121(f) and 7703(b) and 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(9). 

DISCUSSION 

On appeal, Rosado argues that the arbitrator erred by reading Chatman v.

Department of the Army, 73 M.S.P.R. 582 (1997), to allow an agency to deviate from its 

table of offenses and penalties when a more severe penalty is “reasonable.” Rosado 

argues that instead, the correct standard is whether the more severe penalty is 

“appropriate.” Rosado also argues that Mitchell, the deciding official, did not provide an 

adequate explanation of her reasons for choosing a more severe penalty than 

recommended in the agency’s table of offenses and penalties. Finally, Rosado argues 

that there is no evidence in the record to support a finding that the table is not meant to 

be binding and is only a guide. Rosado requests that this court either reduce the 

penalty to a thirty-day suspension in accordance with the suggested maximum in the 

table or remand the case to the agency for further development of the record. 

In response, the government argues that to the extent there is any legally 

significant difference between reasonableness and appropriateness, reasonableness of 

the decision to deviate from the table of offenses and penalties was the standard 

applied in Chatman. The government also argues that Rosado’s claim of inadequate 

explanation is based on an incorrect statement of the law because “an agency is only 

bound by its table of penalties if the agency intends it to be binding.” Br. at 15 (citing 

Farrell v. Dep’t of the Interior, 314 F.3d 584 (Fed. Cir. 2002)). Finally, the government 

2007-3116 -3- 
argues that the range of penalties in the table of offenses and penalties, and the 

instructions on use accompanying the table, clearly demonstrate that it is meant to be a 

guide and not binding on the agency. 

We agree with the government that the arbitrator’s decision was supported by 

substantial evidence and in accordance with law. “This court reviews decisions of 

arbitrators in grievances affecting federal employees under the same standard of review 

that is applied to decisions from the Merit Systems Protection Board.” Giove v. Dep’t of 

Transp., 230 F.3d 1333, 1338 (Fed. Cir. 2000) (citing 5 U.S.C. § 7121(f)). The scope of 

our review in an appeal from a decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board (the 

“Board”) is limited. We must affirm the Board’s decision unless 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); see Briggs v. Merit Sys. 

Prot. Bd., 331 F.3d 1307, 1311 (Fed. Cir. 2003). In addressing whether a table of 

penalties is binding on an agency, we stated that “an agency statement, not issued as a 

formal regulation, binds the agency only if the agency intended the statement to be 

binding.” Farrell, 314 F.3d at 590. Our review of an agency’s penalty determination is 

highly deferential and requires a showing that the penalty is grossly disproportionate to 

the offense charged. Bieber v. Dep’t of the Army, 287 F.3d 1358, 1365 (Fed. Cir. 2002) 

(citations omitted). 

The content of the agency’s table of offenses and penalties clearly indicates that 

it is only a guide and was not meant to be binding on the agency. The description of 

offenses is incomplete and quite broad, and accompanied by a range of possible 

2007-3116 -4- 
2007-3116 -5- 

penalties. For example, entry B3, which Rosado argues corresponds to his charged 

offense, lists, “Inappropriate and/or unwelcome verbal or physical behavior of a sexual 

nature, including teasing, jokes, gestures, display of visual material, or requests for 

sexual favors.” This description falls far short of describing acts of the seriousness of 

the offenses that Rosado committed. Further, as noted by the government, the 

instructions accompanying the table describe it as exemplary only, a guide, and not a 

set of mandatory rules. Because the guide was not intended to be binding, it was only 

one factor to considered along with the other Douglas factors. The record includes a 

worksheet from the deciding officer showing her consideration of the Douglas factors, 

and the arbitrator also heard testimony from the deciding officer during the arbitration 

proceeding. We agree with the arbitrator that in light of the seriousness of the 

specifications and other evidence of record, there is no question that the agency’s 

decision to terminate Rosado was reasonable, and we thus affirm her decision.