NOTE: Pursuant to Fed. Cir. R. 47.6, this disposition 

is not citable as precedent. It is a public record.

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

05-3141 

RODOLFO H. ADAMS, 

Petitioner, 

v. 

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, 

Respondent. 

___________________________ 

DECIDED: August 5, 2005 

___________________________ 

Before SCHALL, Circuit Judge, ARCHER, Senior Circuit Judge, and BRYSON, Circuit 

Judge. 

PER CURIAM. 

DECISION 

Petitioner Rodolfo H. Adams seeks review of a decision of the Merit System 

Protection Board, Docket No. SE-0831-04-0104-I-1, affirming in part, vacating in part, 

and remanding a decision of the Office of Personnel Management (“OPM”). OPM’s 

decision had denied Mr. Adams’s claim for survivor benefits under the Civil Service 

Retirement System (“CSRS”). Because we lack jurisdiction to consider his petition for 

review, we dismiss the petition. 
05-3141 2 

BACKGROUND 

 Mr. Adams’s late father, Federico C. Adams, worked in the Philippines as a 

civilian employee of the Department of the Army, the Department of the Air Force, and 

the Veterans Administration at various times from the 1930’s to the 1970’s when he 

retired because of a physical disability. From January 1950 until March 1952, he 

worked for the Veterans Administration. At the end of that period, he applied for and 

received authorization for a refund of his CSRS contributions. When he finally ended 

his civilian service in 1973, the standard form 50 documenting his separation from 

service indicated that he was not eligible for pension benefits under any retirement plan. 

After he died in 1977, his widow applied for CSRS survivor benefits. The Civil Service 

Commission denied her claim. Mrs. Adams died in 1999, and the petitioner 

subsequently filed a claim with OPM for survivor benefits based on his father’s civilian 

service. 

 OPM initially denied that claim because Mr. Federico Adams had received a 

refund of all of his retirement deductions and was therefore not eligible for benefits. 

OPM issued a reconsideration decision in which it found that, following Mr. Federico 

Adams’s separation from the Veterans Administration in 1952, it authorized a refund of 

his retirement deductions. OPM concluded that Mr. Federico Adams was thus not 

eligible for CSRS benefits for that period of employment, and it therefore again denied 

the petitioner’s claim for survivor benefits. OPM’s reconsideration decision, however, 

did not address any other periods of service covered by the petitioner’s claim for 

benefits. 
05-3141 3 

 The petitioner appealed the reconsideration decision to the Board but did not 

dispute the portion of OPM’s decision finding that his father was ineligible for benefits 

for the period ending in 1952 when he was employed by the Veterans Administration. 

The Board accordingly affirmed that portion of the decision. However, the Board further 

concluded that OPM had failed to address Mr. Federico Adams’s periods of service with 

the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force. The Board therefore 

remanded the matter to OPM to address those other periods of service. The Board 

directed OPM to issue a reconsideration decision within 90 days of the Board’s decision 

becoming final. The petitioner filed a petition for review by the full Board, which was 

denied on February 22, 2005. Accordingly, the initial decision of the Board became the 

final decision on that date, and the remand decision from OPM became due 90 days 

from that date. During that 90-day period and before OPM issued the reconsideration 

decision, the petitioner filed this petition for review by this court. 

DISCUSSION 

 Mr. Adams complains that according to the Board decision, OPM was required to 

issue its reconsideration decision 90 days from the Board’s initial decision on May 4, 

2004. We disagree. The Board ordered OPM to render its reconsideration decision 

within 90 days from the date that the Board’s decision became final. The pertinent 

regulation, 5 C.F.R. § 1201.113, states that “[t]he initial decision of the judge will 

become final 35 days after issuance.” However, subsection (a) of that provision states 

that “[t]he initial decision will not become final if any party files a petition for review 

within the time limit for filing specified in § 1201.114 of this part, or if the Board reopens 

the case on its own motion.” If any party petitions for review, subsection (b) specifies 
05-3141 4 

that “the initial decision will become final when the Board issues its last decision denying 

a petition for review.” Accordingly, because Mr. Adams petitioned for review of the 

initial decision, the decision of the Board became final on February 22, 2005, the day it 

denied Mr. Adams’s petition for review. Therefore, the 90-day period for OPM to issue 

its reconsideration decision had not expired when Mr. Adams filed his petition for review 

of the Board’s final decision on April 18, 2005. 

 OPM contends that we lack jurisdiction to consider Mr. Adams’s appeal. We 

agree. Our jurisdiction is limited to reviewing a “final order or decision” of the Merit 

Systems Protection Board. 5 U.S.C. § 7703(a)(1); 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(9). An order 

remanding a matter to an administrative agency for further proceedings and findings is 

not final. Cabot Corp. v. United States, 788 F.2d 1539, 1542 (Fed. Cir. 1986); see also

Caesar v. West, 195 F.3d 1373, 1374 (Fed. Cir. 1999) (“Remands to administrative 

agencies, because they mark a continuation of the case, are not generally considered 

final decisions for jurisdictional purposes.”). The rule permitting appeals only from final 

decisions of administrative agencies avoids judicial interference with ongoing 

administrative proceedings and “saves the expense and delays of repeated appeals in 

the same suit.” Travelstead v. Derwinski, 978 F.2d 1244, 1247 (Fed. Cir. 1992). 

Because the Board remanded to OPM for further proceedings, the Board’s decision is 

not final. We therefore dismiss Mr. Adams’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction. If the Board 

issues an adverse final decision after OPM issues the reconsideration decision ordered 

by the Board, Mr. Adams may seek review of that decision at that time.