UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD 

JOHN PAUL JONES, III,

Appellant,

v.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES,

Agency.

DOCKET NUMBER

DE-3330-14-0570-I-1

DATE: April 30, 2015

THIS FINAL ORDER IS NONPRECEDENTIAL1

John Paul Jones, III, Albuquerque, New Mexico, pro se.

K. Keian Weld, Esquire, Washington, D.C., for the agency.

BEFORE

Susan Tsui Grundmann, Chairman

Mark A. Robbins, Member

FINAL ORDER

¶1 The appellant has filed a petition for review of the initial decision, which

denied the appellant’s request for corrective action under the Veterans 

Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA). Generally, we grant petitions 

such as this one only when: the initial decision contains erroneous findings of 

 1 A nonprecedential order is one that the Board has determined does not add 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 Parties may cite nonprecedential orders, 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

material fact; the initial decision is based on an erroneous interpretation of statute 

or regulation or the erroneous application of the law to the facts of the case; the 

judge’s rulings during either the course of the appeal or the initial decision were 

not consistent with required procedures or involved an abuse of discretion, and 

the resulting error affected the outcome of the case; or new and material evidence 

or legal argument is available that, despite the petitioner’s due diligence, was not 

available when the record closed.2 See Title 5 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations, section 1201.115 (5 C.F.R. § 1201.115). After fully considering the 

filings in this appeal, and based on the following points and authorities, we 

conclude that the petitioner has not established any basis under section 1201.115 

for granting the petition for review. Therefore, we DENY the petition for review. 

The initial decision is final. 

NOTICE TO THE APPELLANT REGARDING

YOUR FURTHER REVIEW RIGHTS

The initial decision, as supplemented by this Final Order, constitutes the 

Board's final decision in this matter. 5 C.F.R. § 1201.113. You have the right to 

request the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to review this 

final decision. You must submit your request to the court at the following 

address: 

United States Court of Appeals

for the Federal Circuit

717 Madison Place, N.W.

Washington, DC 20439

 2 Regarding the appellant’s argument on review that the administrative judge was biased 

against him because of rulings that the administrative judge made in one of the

appellant’s prior VEOA appeals, the appellant has not shown that the administrative 

judge’s comments or actions in this appeal show "a deep-seated favoritism or 

antagonism that would make fair judgment impossible." Petition for Review File, Tab 1 

at 6-10; see Bieber v. Department of the Army, 287 F.3d 1358, 1362-63 (Fed. Cir. 2002) 

(quoting Liteky v. United States, 510 U.S. 540, 555 (1994)).
3

The court must receive your request for review no later than 60 calendar 

days after the date of this order. See 5 U.S.C. § 7703(b)(1)(A) (as rev. eff. Dec. 

27, 2012). If you choose to file, be very careful to file on time. The court has 

held that normally it does not have the authority to waive this statutory deadline 

and that filings that do not comply with the deadline must be dismissed. See 

Pinat v. Office of Personnel Management, 931 F.2d 1544 (Fed. Cir. 1991).

If you need further information about your right to appeal this decision to 

court, you should refer to the federal law that gives you this right. It is found in 

Title 5 of the United States Code, section 7703 (5 U.S.C. § 7703) (as rev. eff. 

Dec. 27, 2012). You may read this law as well as other sections of the United 

States Code, at our website, http://www.mspb.gov/appeals/uscode.htm. 

Additional information is available at the court's website, www.cafc.uscourts.gov. 

Of particular relevance is the court's "Guide for Pro Se Petitioners and 

Appellants," which is contained within the court's Rules of Practice, and Forms 5, 

6, and 11.

If you are interested in securing pro bono representation for your court 

appeal, you may visit our website at http://www.mspb.gov/probono for 

information regarding pro bono representation for Merit Systems Protection 

Board appellants before the Federal Circuit. The Merit Systems Protection Board 

neither endorses the services provided by any attorney nor warrants that any 

attorney will accept representation in a given case. 

FOR THE BOARD:

Washington, D.C.

______________________________

William D. Spencer

Clerk of the Board