UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD

2014 MSPB 83

Docket No. SF-1221-13-0574-W-2

Robert M. Miller,

Appellant,

v.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,

Agency.

November 6, 2014

Robert M. Miller, San Francisco, California, pro se.

Thomas J. Sarisky, Arlington, Virginia, for the agency.

BEFORE

Susan Tsui Grundmann, Chairman

Anne M. Wagner, Vice Chairman

Mark A. Robbins, Member

OPINION AND ORDER

¶1 The appellant has filed a petition for review of an initial decision that 

dismissed his individual right of action (IRA) appeal for lack of jurisdiction

because, among other things, his claim of reprisal for disclosing information 

during an internal grievance process was not a matter that could be adjudicated in 

this IRA appeal, regardless of whether the pertinent provisions of the

Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012 (WPEA), Pub. L. No. 

112-199, 126 Stat. 1465, applied retroactively. For the following reasons, we
2

DENY the petition for review, AFFIRM the initial decision as modified, and 

DISMISS this appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

BACKGROUND

¶2 In Miller v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, MSPB Docket 

No. SF-3443-12-0301-I-1, Final Order (June 26, 2013), the Board forwarded the 

appellant’s petition for review to the Western Regional Office for docketing as an 

IRA appeal, and this appeal followed. See Miller v. Federal Deposit Insurance 

Corporation, MSPB Docket No. SF-1221-13-0574-W-1, Initial Appeal File (W-1 

IAF), Tab 1. As explained in more detail below, all of the material events in this 

matter occurred before the relevant provisions of the WPEA took effect on 

December 27, 2012. See WPEA § 202. An IRA appeal is authorized by statute 

only in certain reprisal cases as designated in 5 U.S.C. § 1221(a). Prior to the 

WPEA, an eligible individual’s entitlement to seek corrective action from the 

Board in an IRA appeal was limited to covered personnel actions taken or 

proposed to be taken as a result of a prohibited personnel practice (PPP) 

described in 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(8), i.e., retaliation for whistleblowing. 

See 5 U.S.C. § 1221(a) (2011); see also 5 C.F.R. § 1209.4(b) (defining 

“whistleblowing”). The WPEA extended the IRA appeal right in section 1221(a) 

to include not only PPPs described in 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(8) but also PPPs 

described in 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), and (D), as amended by the 

WPEA. WPEA § 101(b)(1)(A). The administrative judge dismissed this appeal

without prejudice to refiling pending the Board’s decision in Hooker v. 

Department of Veterans Affairs, 120 M.S.P.R. 629 (2014), regarding whether the 

expanded IRA appeal provisions in the WPEA should be applied retroactively. 

See W-1 IAF, Tab 8, Initial Decision.

¶3 After this appeal was refiled, the administrative judge issued an order to 

show cause explaining that, in Hooker, 120 M.S.P.R. 629, ¶¶ 8-15, the Board 
3

determined that the new IRA appeal right in section 101(b)(1)(A) of the WPEA

pertaining to the PPPs described in 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(9)(B) did not apply 

retroactively to a Board appeal that was pending when the WPEA was enacted.

1

 

Miller v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, MSPB Docket No. SF-1221-

13-0574-W-2, Initial Appeal File (W-2 IAF), Tab 3. The administrative judge 

noted that the analysis in Hooker “appears equally applicable” to a claim based 

on the PPPs described in 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(9)(A). Id. at 3 n.2. The 

administrative judge therefore ordered the appellant to show cause why his appeal 

should not be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Id. at 4.

¶4 After the appellant responded to the order, W-2 IAF, Tab 4, the 

administrative judge issued an initial decision that dismissed the IRA appeal for 

lack of jurisdiction, W-2 IAF, Tab 6, Initial Decision (ID). The administrative 

judge found that, under long-standing precedent of the Board and the U.S. Court 

of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the alleged reprisal for the appellant’s 

grievance activity and for disclosing information as a part of that process could 

be a PPP as described in 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(9) but not as described in 5 U.S.C. 

§ 2302(b)(8). See ID at 6. The administrative judge further found that all the

material events in this case occurred prior to the effective date of the WPEA and 

that, following Hooker, the extension of IRA appeal rights in the WPEA was not 

to be given retroactive effect to reprisal claims based on certain activity described 

in 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(9). See ID at 6-8. The administrative judge further 

concluded that, even if these WPEA provisions applied retroactively, the 

 

1 As amended by the WPEA, 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(9)(B) states that it is a PPP to take or 

fail to take, or threaten to take or fail to take, any personnel action against any 

employee because of “testifying for or otherwise lawfully assisting any individual in the 

exercise of any right referred to in subparagraph (A)(i) or (ii).” Subparagraphs (A)(i) 

and (ii) refer to the exercise of any appeal, complaint, or grievance right granted by any 

law, rule, or regulation—(i) with regard to remedying a violation of paragraph (8), or 

(ii) other than with regard to remedying a violation of paragraph (8).
4

appellant’s claims would be covered under 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(9)(A)(ii), as 

amended by the WPEA, and as such would still not be among the enumerated 

grounds for an IRA appeal. See ID at 8 (citing Mudd v. Department of Veterans 

Affairs, 120 M.S.P.R. 365, ¶ 7 (2013)).

2

 The administrative judge also found 

that, to the extent that the appellant was raising allegations of reprisal for 

separate whistleblowing disclosures that occurred outside of the context of the 

internal grievance process, the appellant failed to prove that he had exhausted his 

administrative remedy with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) regarding such 

claims and thus, by law, they could not be a basis for Board jurisdiction over this 

IRA appeal. ID at 4-5. 

¶5 The appellant has filed a petition for review, the agency has filed a 

response, and the appellant has filed a reply. See Petition for Review (PFR) File, 

Tabs 1, 3-4. On review, the appellant challenges the administrative judge’s 

jurisdictional analysis. PFR File, Tab 1 at 8-14. He further argues that the 

administrative judge improperly denied his motion to compel discovery and his 

motion to strike certain information from the record. Id. at 8, 14. He also 

includes an agency draft anti-harassment policy that may have been disseminated 

to employees after the close of the record below. See id. at 11-12, 17-26.

 

2 As an additional basis for finding a lack of jurisdiction over the appellant’s (b)(9) 

claims, the administrative judge found that, under pre-WPEA law, the appellant was an 

employee of a government corporation rather than an “agency” as defined at 5 U.S.C. 

§ 2302(a)(2)(C)(i) (2011), and thus was excluded from coverage under 5 U.S.C. § 2302

except for a claim arising under subsection (b)(8), ID at 6 & n.8 (citing Snead v. 

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 74 M.S.P.R. 501, 502-03 (1997); Dockery v. 

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 64 M.S.P.R. 458, 460-62 (1994)). The WPEA 

amended 5 U.S.C. § 2302(a)(2)(C)(i) to add language regarding section 

2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), and (D). See WPEA § 101(b)(1)(B). Because we find that 

the Board lacks jurisdiction for the reasons set forth in this Opinion and Order, we do 

not reach the administrative judge’s alternative analysis.
5

ANALYSIS

The administrative judge properly concluded that the appellant exhausted his 

remedies with OSC regarding claims of reprisal for his grievance activities, but 

he did not seek corrective action from OSC regarding his claims of reprisal for 

disclosures or activities outside of the grievance process.

¶6 The first element of Board jurisdiction over an IRA appeal is exhaustion by 

the appellant of his administrative remedies before OSC. See 5 U.S.C. 

§§ 1214(a)(3), 1221(a); see also Yunus v. Department of Veterans 

Affairs, 242 F.3d 1367, 1371 (Fed. Cir. 2001); Carney v. Department of Veterans 

Affairs, 121 M.S.P.R. 446, ¶ 4 (2014). Specifically, under 5 U.S.C. § 1214(a)(3), 

an employee is required to “seek corrective action from [OSC] before seeking 

corrective action from the Board” through an IRA appeal. To satisfy this

requirement, an appellant must articulate to OSC the basis for his request for 

corrective action “with reasonable clarity and precision.” Ellison v. Merit 

Systems Protection Board, 7 F.3d 1031, 1037 (Fed. Cir. 1993); see Ward v. Merit 

Systems Protection Board, 981 F.2d 521, 526 (Fed. Cir. 1992). Although an 

appellant may add further detail to his claims before the Board, see Briley v. 

National Archives & Records Administration, 236 F.3d 1373, 1378 (Fed. Cir. 

2001), the appellant must first make a reasonably clear and precise claim with 

OSC, see, e.g., Mintzmyer v. Department of the Interior, 84 F.3d 419, 422 (Fed. 

Cir. 1996). 

¶7 The administrative judge found that the appellant exhausted his 

administrative remedies with OSC regarding his claims of reprisal for disclosures 

made during steps 1, 2, and 3 of the grievance process. ID at 5. The record fully 

supports this finding. See W-1 IAF, Tab 5 at 64-76 (OSC complaint), 13-21 

(step 1 grievance dated May 29, 2011), 22-40 (step 2 grievance dated July 22, 
6

2011), 41-57 (step 3 grievance dated September 8, 2011). 3 For instance, the 

appellant’s OSC complaint specifically identifies these three grievances as the 

alleged disclosures at issue. Id. at 68, 70-72. Further, he repeatedly made 

narrative assertions on his OSC complaint form that he made his disclosures in 

his grievances. See id. at 67 (“On May 29th, I filed a grievance with the FDIC for 

violations of law, regulation, EEOC guidance, FDIC policies, and the collective 

bargaining agreement.”), 73 (“I filed a grievance for violation of law, regulation, 

guidance, and the collective bargaining agreement.”), 74 (“In the grievance, I 

accused [my first-line supervisor] and the FDIC generally of violating the law 

and my rights.”). Thus, we find that the appellant satisfied the exhaustion 

requirement of 5 U.S.C. § 1214(a)(3) regarding his allegations concerning 

reprisal for his grievance activity and disclosures of information in that context.

¶8 In briefing the jurisdictional issue before the administrative judge, the 

appellant claimed that he also suffered reprisal for making certain disclosures 

outside of the grievance process. Specifically, he referenced his May 26, 2011 

email to the agency Ombudsman, W-2 IAF, Tab 4 at 10, 18-19, and his emails to 

the agency Acting Chairman and/or his Chief of Staff beginning on February 7, 

2012, concerning “FDIC Values, Cultural Change, [and] Merit Systems 

Principles,” W-1 IAF, Tab 5 at 8, 11, 58-63; W-2 IAF, Tab 4 at 10, 20-28. There 

is no evidence that the appellant informed OSC of these communications with the 

 

3 Although the appellant’s OSC complaint misstated the date of his step 3 grievance as 

July 22, 2011, see W-1 IAF, Tab 5 at 72, it is clear from context that he was referring to 

disclosures made during his step 3 grievance, see id. at 72-73, which was filed on 

September 8, 2011, id. at 41, and was the subject of a hearing before a Deputy Director 

on September 21, 2011, id. at 8, 68. Although the appellant’s OSC complaint did not 

explicitly refer to either of these September dates, we find that his complaint was clear 

enough to inform OSC that he was seeking corrective action for disclosures made in his 

written step 3 grievance and during the hearing in that matter on September 21, 2011. 

We modify the initial decision to the extent that the administrative judge found 

otherwise. See ID at 5 n.7. 
7

agency Ombudsman, Chairman, or Chief of Staff, and these communications are 

not mentioned in his OSC complaint. See W-1 IAF, Tab 5 at 64-76. In contrast, 

his OSC complaint described in detail his grievance activity, which was the core

of the complaint. See supra ¶ 7. 

¶9 On review, the appellant does not argue that he raised with OSC his 

communications with the Ombudsman, Chairman, or Chief of Staff. Instead, he 

asserts that he generally “made reasonable attempts” to exhaust with OSC and 

that “[i]t simply does not matter whether [he] notified the OSC that he had also 

made disclosures outside the grievance process” because OSC had already 

determined that it would terminate an investigation into his allegations. PFR 

File, Tab 1 at 14. He further speculates that, if OSC had chosen to interview him, 

it could have determined whether there were disclosures outside of the grievance 

process, other types of personnel actions, or other covered disclosures. PFR File, 

Tab 4 at 12-13. We find these arguments unavailing.

¶10 Seeking corrective action with OSC is an important statutory prerequisite 

to an IRA appeal before the Board. See 5 U.S.C. § 1214(a)(3); see also Serrao v. 

Merit Systems Protection Board, 95 F.3d 1569, 1578 (Fed. Cir. 1996); Ward, 

981 F.2d at 526. The appellant’s allegations regarding alleged disclosures

outside the grievance process are not merely a more detailed account of the 

claims he presented to OSC; rather, they are new allegations of protected activity 

separate from the grievance activity that was the core of the retaliation claim 

described in his submissions to OSC. See supra ¶ 7; cf. Briley, 236 F.3d at 1378. 

As such, he has not proven that he sought corrective action with OSC regarding 

these claims, and the Board lacks jurisdiction to review them in this IRA appeal.

See Serrao, 95 F.3d at 1575-78 (finding that the Board did not have jurisdiction 

over a potential claim of reprisal as a result of a PPP described in 5 U.S.C. 

§ 2302(b)(8) because the employee did not articulate such a claim with 

reasonable clarity and precision when seeking corrective action from OSC for 
8

reprisal for the exercise of grievance rights); see also Mintzmyer, 84 F.3d at 422

(finding that an appellant’s allegation in her OSC complaint that she was 

“subjected to constructive discharge by harassing and retaliatory behavior” was 

not sufficiently clear or precise to constitute exhaustion of her administrative 

remedies regarding four alleged retaliatory actions that she specified for the first 

time to the Board in her IRA appeal).

The appellant’s allegations of reprisal for grievance activity are properly 

considered as allegations of PPPs under 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(9), rather than 

subsection (b)(8).

¶11 It is well-settled that reprisal for filing a grievance is protected by 5 U.S.C. 

§ 2302(b)(9), not section 2302(b)(8). Serrao, 95 F.3d at 1574-76; Mason v. 

Department of Homeland Security, 116 M.S.P.R. 135, ¶ 22 n.6 (2011); Fisher v. 

Department of Defense, 47 M.S.P.R. 585, 587-88 (1991). The U.S. Court of 

Appeals for the Federal Circuit has emphasized that the Board must avoid 

blurring the deliberate and substantive distinction established by Congress 

between whistleblowing disclosures protected under subsection (b)(8) and the 

exercise of grievance rights protected under subsection (b)(9)(A). Serrao, 

95 F.3d at 1576 (citing Ellison, 7 F.3d at 1035). Thus, the court has held that an 

appellant cannot meet the jurisdictional requirements in an IRA appeal merely by 

inserting section 2302(b)(8) allegations into an agency grievance. Id.

¶12 Notwithstanding this clear precedent, the appellant cites Bump v. 

Department of the Interior, 64 M.S.P.R. 326 (1994), for the proposition that “it 

simply does not matter that the protected disclosures were made within the 

grievance process when they otherwise establish the type of fraud, waste or abuse 

that the WPA was intended to reach.” PFR File, Tab 4 at 12; accord PFR File, 

Tab 1 at 12-13. This is a misinterpretation of Bump and the relevant law. In 

Bump, the Board recognized that an employee may make a number of related 

disclosures based upon the same operative facts. Bump, 64 M.S.P.R. at 332. 

Mr. Bump had made certain disclosures to OSC that could qualify as protected 
9

disclosures under 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(8). Id. at 331. The Board found that he 

was not disqualified from pursing an IRA appeal based on reprisal for making 

those disclosures to OSC merely because he also may have raised them as part of 

a grievance. Id. at 331-32. That is not the situation here. As set forth above, the 

issue in this appeal is limited to alleged reprisal only as a result of the appellant’s

grievance activity and disclosures of information in that context. Thus, Bump is 

distinguishable, see Serrao, 95 F.3d at 1576 n.6, and the appellant’s exhausted 

claims are properly considered as allegations of PPPs under 5 U.S.C. 

§ 2302(b)(9), see, e.g., Serrao, 95 F.3d at 1574-76; Mason, 116 M.S.P.R. 135, 

¶ 22 n.6; Fisher, 47 M.S.P.R. at 587-88.

The provisions of the WPEA authorizing an IRA appeal based on an allegation of 

reprisal as a result of a PPP under 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(9)(A)(i) do not apply to 

this case.

¶13 Under the law in effect at the time of the events at issue in this appeal, an 

eligible individual’s entitlement to seek corrective action from the Board in an 

IRA appeal was limited to covered personnel actions taken or proposed to be 

taken as a result of a PPP described in 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(8), i.e., retaliation for 

whistleblowing. See 5 U.S.C. § 1221(a) (2011). Because the appellant only 

sought corrective action from OSC regarding allegations of reprisal as a result of 

PPPs as described in 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(9), the Board lacks IRA jurisdiction over 

those claims under the law in effect at the time of the events at issue. See Serrao, 

95 F.3d at 1574-76.

¶14 We now turn to the impact of the WPEA, if any, on the appellant’s appeal. 

The WPEA was signed into law on November 27, 2012, and it had an effective 

date of December 27, 2012. King v. Department of the Air Force, 119 M.S.P.R. 

663, ¶ 3 (2013). With exceptions not applicable here, under 5 U.S.C. § 1221(a), 

as amended by section 101(b)(1)(A) of the WPEA, an employee may seek 

corrective action from the Board concerning any personnel action taken, or 

proposed to be taken, against him as a result of a PPP described in section 
10

2302(b)(8) or section 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), or (D). 4 Amended section 

2302(b)(9)(A) provides that any employee who has authority to take, direct others 

to take, recommend, or approve any personnel action shall not, with respect to 

such authority, take or fail to take, or threaten to take or fail to take, any 

personnel action against any employee because of:

(A) the exercise of any appeal, complaint, or grievance right granted 

by any law, rule, or regulation—

(i) with regard to remedying a violation of paragraph (8); or 

(ii) other than with regard to remedying a violation of paragraph 

(8).

Under 5 U.S.C. § 1221(e)(1), as amended by the WPEA, and subject to the 

provisions of section 1221(e)(2), in any case involving an alleged PPP as 

described under 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(8) or section 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), or 

(D), “the Board shall order such corrective action as the Board considers 

appropriate if the employee . . . has demonstrated that a disclosure or protected 

activity described under section 2302(b)(8) or section 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), 

or (D) was a contributing factor in the personnel action which was taken or is to 

be taken.” 

¶15 In Hooker, 120 M.S.P.R. 629, ¶¶ 11-15, the Board used the analytical 

framework set forth in Landsgraf v. USI Film Products, 511 U.S. 244 (1994), to 

determine that the retroactive application of the new IRA appeal right in section 

101(b)(1)(A) of the WPEA, as it pertains to the personnel actions taken as a result 

of a PPP, as set forth at 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(9)(B), would be impermissible

because it would increase a party’s liability for past conduct as compared to 

 

4 Section 2302(b)(9)(C) involves cooperating with or disclosing information to the 

Inspector General of an agency, or the Special Counsel, in accordance with applicable 

provisions of law. Section 2302(b)(9)(D) involves refusing to obey an order that would 

require the individual to violate a law. Neither of these subsections is implicated in this 

matter.
11

pre-WPEA liability. The same rationale is applicable here. Indeed, as in Hooker, 

the WPEA created a new Board appeal right in IRA appeals for employees who 

allege that a personnel action has been taken as a result of a PPP described in 

section 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), and it includes a new provision directing the Board to 

order such corrective action as the Board considers appropriate when such 

protected activity is a contributing factor in a personnel action. See 

Hooker, 120 M.S.P.R. 629, ¶ 15. Therefore, consistent with Hooker, we decline 

to apply in this case the new IRA appeal right in section 101(b)(1)(A) of the 

WPEA as it pertains to the PPPs described at 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(9)(A)(i) because 

doing so would increase a party’s liability for past conduct as compared to preWPEA liability.

5

 Thus, even assuming that the appellant made a nonfrivolous 

allegation that he engaged in activity that would now be considered protected 

under 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), the appellant cannot bring an IRA appeal on 

that basis regarding events that occurred before the effective date of the WPEA. 6

We discern no error with the administrative judge’s decision to deny the 

appellant’s motion to compel discovery and motion to strike certain information 

from the record.

¶16 The appellant asks the Board to overturn the administrative judge’s 

decision on his request to “have information that was prejudicial to this case 

 

5 The Board appeal in Hooker was pending when the WPEA was enacted. See Hooker, 

120 M.S.P.R. 629, ¶ 10. Here, however, the relevant events occurred before the WPEA 

was enacted and its effective date, but the appeal was docketed after the effective date 

of the WPEA. See, e.g., W-1 IAF, Tab 5 at 13-21 (May 29, 2011 step 1 grievance), 

22-40 (July 22, 2011 step 2 grievance), 41-57 (September 8, 2011 step 3 grievance), 

64-76 (the appellant’s March 2012 OSC complaint), 77-78 (OSC’s correspondence to 

the appellant). This difference in chronology does not warrant a different disposition. 

See Hooker, 120 M.S.P.R. 629, ¶ 11 (citing Landsgraf, 511 U.S. at 280).

6 In light of this finding, we need not reach the issue of whether the appellant’s claim

should be considered as a claim covered by 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(9)(A)(ii) rather than 

subsection (b)(9)(A)(i).
12

removed from the record,” and he states that he did not have a sufficient 

opportunity to conduct discovery. PFR File, Tab 1 at 14. Although unclear, it 

appears that the appellant is challenging the administrative judge’s June 6, 2014 

order that denied his: (1) motion for reconsideration of the order denying his 

motion to compel in his prior Board appeal, Miller v. Federal Deposit Insurance 

Corporation, MSPB Docket No. SF-3443-12-0301-I-1; and (2) objection to the 

order to show cause that made reference to his grieving his letter of warning 

(LOW). See W-2 IAF, Tab 5 at 1-2 (June 6, 2014 order); see also W-2 IAF, 

Tab 4 at 4-6 (the appellant objected to any further reference to a “LOW 

grievance”), 14-15 (the appellant requested reconsideration of the decision to 

deny his motion to compel in his prior Board appeal). 

¶17 We discern no error with the administrative judge’s decisions in this 

regard. As the administrative judge noted, the Board found in its final order in 

the prior Board appeal that the administrative judge did not abuse his discretion 

in denying the appellant’s motions to compel. See W-1 IAF, Tab 1 at 4. 

Moreover, we agree with the administrative judge that the appellant’s May 29, 

2011 grievance “[w]ithout question” referenced the LOW. W-2 IAF, Tab 5 at 2; 

see W-1 IAF, Tab 5 at 18, 21. Accordingly, we see no basis upon which to strike 

the administrative judge’s reference to the appellant’s grieving the LOW in the 

show cause order. 

The appellant’s “new” evidence on review does not warrant a different outcome.

¶18 We have considered the draft anti-harassment policy that the appellant 

includes with his petition for review. See PFR File, Tab 1 at 17-26. We find, 

even if we viewed the draft policy as “new” evidence, it is not of sufficient 

weight to warrant an outcome different from that of the initial decision because it 

does not change our determination that the Board lacks jurisdiction over the 

appeal for the reasons set forth above. See Russo v. Veterans 

Administration, 3 M.S.P.R. 345, 349 (1980).
13

ORDER

¶19 This is the final decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board in this 

appeal. Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations, section 1201.113(c) (5 C.F.R. 

§ 1201.113(c)).

NOTICE TO THE APPELLANT REGARDING

YOUR FURTHER REVIEW RIGHTS

You have the right to request review of this final decision by the United 

States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

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 want to request review of the Board’s decision concerning your 

claims of prohibited personnel practices under 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(8), 

(b)(9)(A)(i), (b)(9)(B), (b)(9)(C), or (b)(9)(D), but you do not want to challenge 

the Board’s disposition of any other claims of prohibited personnel practices, you 

may request the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit or any 

court of appeals of competent jurisdiction to review this final decision. The court 

of appeals must receive your petition for review within 60 days after the date of 

this order. See 5 U.S.C. § 7703(b)(1)(B) (as rev. eff. Dec. 27, 2012). If you 

choose to file, be very careful to file on time. You may choose to request review 

of the Board’s decision in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal 

Circuit or any other court of appeals of competent jurisdiction, but not both. 

Once you choose to seek review in one court of appeals, you may be precluded 

from seeking review in any other court.
14

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 about the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal 

Circuit 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. 

Additional information about other courts of appeals can be found at their 

respective websites, which can be accessed 

through http://www.uscourts.gov/Court_Locator/CourtWebsites.aspx. 

If you are interested in securing pro bono representation for an appeal to 

the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, you may visit our 

website at http://www.mspb.gov/probono for a list of attorneys who have 

expressed interest in providing pro bono representation for Merit Systems 

Protection Board appellants before the Federal Circuit. The Merit Systems
15

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:

______________________________

William D. Spencer

Clerk of the Board

Washington, D.C.