Opinion ID: 3058868
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: This 2010 Lawsuit

Text: In September 2010, Browder again sued the Postmaster General in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. In his complaint, Browder again alleged that the Postal Service discriminated and retaliated against him, in violation of Title VII, and breached the settlement agreement by not crediting his accrued sick and annual leave. On February 24, 2011, the magistrate judge issued a report and recommendation concluding that, given the earlier lawsuit, Browder’s discrimination claims were barred by the doctrine of issue preclusion. In addition, the magistrate judge determined that the district court lacked jurisdiction over Browder’s discrimination claims for the same reasons it lacked jurisdiction over his 2007 claims: Browder had settled those claims and failed to exhaust his administrative remedies, and the MSPB had not decided Browder’s “mixed case” discrimination claim on the merits. The magistrate judge also recommended dismissing on jurisdictional could not add sick-leave time to his service time in December 2006, after he had already retired effective March 2006. As a result, the ALJ concluded that Browder’s actions rendered compliance by the Postal Service impossible and “cancelled the benefit of his bargain in the settlement agreement.” 7 grounds Browder’s claim that the Postal Service breached the settlement agreement. Browder’s challenge to the settlement agreement was not a “mixed case,” but was an improper appeal of the MSPB’s order denying his petition to enforce the settlement agreement. Because the district court has jurisdiction to review only “mixed case[s]” decided on the merits by the MSPB, the district court lacked jurisdiction to hear Browder’s claims with respect to the settlement agreement. See Ballentine,738 F.2d at 1246; see also 29 C.F.R. § 1614.302(a). The district court adopted the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation, and Browder timely appealed.3