Opinion ID: 212045
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Carson's First Individual Right of Action (Carson I)

Text: 4 Carson challenged each of these personnel actions in separate IRA appeals, filed between 1996 and 1998, alleging Agency reprisal for his protected disclosures. 3 On April 29, 1999, the Administrative Judge (AJ) decided that the Agency had retaliated against Carson for making disclosures protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) and ordered interim relief pending possible review by the full Board. As part of that relief, the Agency was to return to the appellant the full range of duties and work assignments consistent with his position description and past assignments. Carson was thus reassigned to his former position as EH Resident at the EH facility in Oak Ridge. 5 In July 1999, however, the Agency eliminated the entire EH Resident Program. On August 31, 1999, Carson thus wrote ORO management that he was open to exploring a detail to [ORO]. Carson added: 6 I've told my management that I won't consider a transfer to Oak Ridge until the legal issues surrounding my employment in DOE are more resolved — specifically that the MSPB rules on DOE's June Petition for Review (PFR) of Judge Miller's initial decision. DOE's PFR is without legal merit, but given the complexity of the case, it could well be next Summer before the Board disposes of it. 7 (Emphases added). 4 8 On September 9, 1999, EH informed Carson that according to ORO management, an offer for you to join their staff would not be forthcoming. Instead, Carson would once again be transferred to EH Headquarters in Germantown, Maryland the following summer. The Agency later modified the transfer, allowing Carson to telecommute from his home in Knoxville, Tennessee. 9 On February 3, 2000, the AJ's Initial Decision in Carson's consolidated IRA appeals became final, when the full Board denied the Agency's petition for review. Carson v. Dep't of Energy, 85 M.S.P.R. 171 (2000). 10 On February 25, 2000, Carson applied for a vacant GS-15 position at ORO; Carson had previously, and unsuccessfully, applied for two vacant GS-15 positions at ORO in November 1999. The Notices of Vacancy for all three GS-15 positions specified that only current ORO employees were eligible to apply. 5 ORO denied Carson's application because he was employed at EH Headquarters in Maryland, not ORO in Tennessee. 11