Opinion ID: 4512195
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Keys’ First MSPB Appeal

Text: and EEOC Complaint Two days after his resignation, Keys filed an adverse action appeal with the Merit Systems Protections Board (“the Board”) pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 7513, claiming that his resignation was involuntary and thus a constructive removal. See Keys v. Dep’t of Housing and Urban Dev., Dkt. No. 0752-15-0531-I-1, 2015 MSPB LEXIS 3088 (MSPB Apr. 14, 2015) (“Keys II”). Keys alleged that he was compelled to resign because his protests of discrimination had fallen on deaf ears and because the agency had retaliated against him for protesting. Id. at . On April 14, 2015, an MSPB administrative judge (“AJ”) issued a decision dis- missing Keys’ appeal for lack of jurisdiction, finding that Keys failed to make a nonfrivolous allegation that his resignation was involuntary. Id. at  (“While I have also considered the appellant’s allegations of age, race, and sex discrimination, and retaliation for his EEO activities, for the limited purpose of determining whether they support a finding of duress or coercion, his conclusory allegations do not support such a finding.”). Neither party filed a petition for review and the AJ’s decision became the Board’s final decision on May 19, 2015. Keys I, 2019 MSPB LEXIS 3462, at –3. After the Board dismissed Keys’ MSPB appeal, Keys filed an equal employment opportunity (“EEO”) complaint with the agency, alleging that his 2014 performance standards, 2015 reassignment, and alleged 2015 constructive removal were based on discrimination and retaliation. S.A. 99. In December 2015, during the pendency of the EEO litigation, Keys discovered an agency document (“the agency document”) that allegedly demonstrated that the agency “did not have an approved vacancy in the office of the reassignment[,] as required by OPM regulations.” Keys I, 2019 MSPB LEXIS 3462, at . On October 16, 2017, however, an EEOC AJ granted the agency’s motion for Case: 20-1063 Document: 26 Page: 4 Filed: 03/03/2020 4 KEYS v. MSPB summary judgment and dismissed Keys’ EEOC complaint. S.A. 98–115.