Opinion ID: 406165
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Retaliatory Motives for the Agency Action

Text: 32 Finally, Gipson claims that the action of the Veterans Administration was improperly motivated. He asserts that the charges and his subsequent removal were in retaliation for his efforts to assist Black hospital employees receive promotions and pay increases and for his disclosure of information and records to an Inspector General who was investigating property losses at the hospital. If either of these claims of prohibited personnel practices, 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b) (1), (8) (Supp. IV 1980), were proven, the MSPB could not lawfully sustain Gipson's removal, id. § 7701(c)(2)(B). 33 The Presiding Official assign(ed) little credibility to Gipson's assertion of a retaliatory motivation for his removal. She found his demeanor while testifying on this subject unconvincing, and Gipson presented no independent evidence in support of his allegations. The Presiding Official also noted that Gipson failed to establish a causal connection between his efforts on behalf of Black employees or his cooperation with the Inspector General and his removal. Gipson v. Veterans Administration, Docket No. DC075209249, slip op. at 2-3, 4 (M.S.P.B. Sept. 10, 1980); A.R. 236-37, 238. We therefore find that the Presiding Official's decision, which was subsequently affirmed by the MSPB, was fully justified by the record.