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Text: The CSRA “establishes a framework for evaluating personnel actions taken against federal employees.” Kloeckner v. Solis, 568 U.S. 41, 44 (2012). For “particularly serious” actions, “for example, a removal from employment or a reduction in grade or pay,” “the affected employee has a right to appeal the agency’s decision to the MSPB.” Ibid. (citing §§1204, 7512, 7701). Such an appeal may present a civil-service claim only. Typically, the employee may allege that “the agency had insufficient cause for taking the action under the CSRA.” Id., at 44. An appeal to the MSPB, however, may also complain of adverse action taken, in whole or in part, because of discrimination prohibited by another federal statute, for example, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S. C. §2000e et seq., or the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, 29 U.S. C. §621 et seq. See 5 U.S. C. §7702(a)(1); Kloeckner, 568 U.S., at 44.

In Kloeckner, we explained, “[w]hen an employee complains of a personnel action serious enough to appeal to the MSPB and alleges that the action was based on discrimination, she is said (by pertinent regulation) to have brought a ‘mixed case.’ ” Ibid. (quoting 29 CFR §1614.302 (2012)). See also §1614.302(a)(2) (2016) (defining “mixed case appeal” as one in which an employee “alleges that an appealable agency action was effected, in whole or in part, because of discrimination”). For mixed cases, “[t]he CSRA and regulations of the MSPB and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) set out special procedures . . . different from those used when the employee either challenges a serious personnel action under the CSRA alone or attacks a less serious action as discriminatory.” Kloeckner, 568 U.S., at 44–45.

As Kloeckner detailed, the CSRA provides diverse procedural routes for an employee’s pursuit of a mixed case. The employee “may first file a discrimination complaint with the agency itself,” in the agency’s equal employment opportunity (EEO) office, “much as an employee challenging a personnel practice not appealable to the MSPB could do.” Id., at 45 (citing 5 CFR §1201.154(a) (2012); 29 CFR §1614.302(b) (2012)); see §7702(a)(2). “If the agency [EEO office] decides against her, the employee may then either take the matter to the MSPB or bypass further administrative review by suing the agency in district court.” Kloeckner, 568 U.S., at 45 (citing 5 CFR §1201.154(b); 29 CFR §1614.302(d)(1)(i)); see §7702(a)(2). “Alternatively, the employee may initiate the process by bringing her case directly to the MSPB, forgoing the agency’s own system for evaluating discrimination charges.” Kloeckner, 568 U.S., at 45 (citing 5 CFR §1201.154(a); 29 CFR §1614.302(b)); see §7702(a)(1).

Section 7702 prescribes appellate proceedings in actions involving discrimination. Defining the MSPB’s jurisdiction in mixed-case appeals that bypass an agency’s EEO office, §7702(a)(1) states in relevant part:

“[I]n the case of any employee . . . who—

“(A) has been affected by an action which the em-

ployee . . . may appeal to the [MSPB], and

“(B) alleges that a basis for the action was discrimination prohibited by [specified antidiscrimination

statutes], . . .

“the Board shall, within 120 days of the filing of the appeal, decide both the issue of discrimination and the appealable action in accordance with the Board’s ap-

pellate procedures . . . .”2

Section 7702(a)(2) similarly authorizes a mixed-case appeal to the MSPB from an agency EEO office’s decision. Then, “[i]f the MSPB upholds the personnel action (whether in the first instance or after the agency has done so), the employee again has a choice: She may request additional administrative process, this time with the EEOC, or else she may seek judicial review.” Kloeckner, 568 U.S., at 45 (citing §7702(a)(3), (b); 5 CFR §1201.161; 29 CFR §1614.303).

Section 7703(b) designates the proper forum for judicial review of MSPB decisions. Section 7703(b)(1)(A) provides the general rule: “[A] petition to review a . . . final decision of the Board shall be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.” Section 7703(b)(2) states the exception here relevant, governing “[c]ases of discrimination subject to the provisions of [§]7702.” See Kloeckner, 568 U.S., at 46 (“The ‘cases of discrimination’ in §7703(b)(2)’s exception . . . are mixed cases, in which an employee challenges as discriminatory a personnel action appealable to the MSPB.”). Such cases “shall be filed under [the enforcement sections of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S. C. §201 et seq.], as applicable.” §7703(b)(2). Those enforcement provisions “all authorize suit in federal district court.” Kloeckner, 568 U.S., at 46 (citing, inter alia, 42 U.S. C. §§2000e–16(c), 2000e–5(f); 29 U.S. C. §633a(c); §216(b)). Thus, if the MSPB decides against the employee on the merits of a mixed case, the statute instructs her to seek review in federal district court under the enforcement provision of the relevant antidiscrimination laws. §7703(b)(2); see Kloeckner, 568 U.S., at 56, n. 4.3

Federal district court is also the proper forum for judicial review, we held in Kloeckner, when the MSPB dismisses a mixed case on procedural grounds. Id., at 50, 56. We rested that conclusion on this syllogism: “Under §7703(b)(2), ‘cases of discrimination subject to [§7702]’ shall be filed in district court.” Id., at 50 (alteration in original). Further, “[u]nder §7702(a)(1), [mixed cases qualify as] ‘cases of discrimination subject to [§7702].’ ” Ibid. (third alteration in original). Thus, “mixed cases shall be filed in district court.” Ibid. That syllogism, we held, holds true whether the dismissal rests on procedural grounds or on the merits, for “nowhere in the [CSRA’s] provisions on judicial review” is a distinction drawn between MSPB merits decisions and procedural rulings. Id., at 51.

The instant case presents this question: Where does an employee seek judicial review when the MSPB dismisses her civil-service case alleging discrimination neither on the merits nor on a procedural ground, but for lack of jurisdiction?

Anthony Perry worked at the U. S. Census Bureau until 2012. 829 F.3d 760, 762 (CADC 2016). In 2011, Perry received notice that he would be terminated because of spotty attendance. Ibid. Later that year, Perry and the Bureau reached a settlement in which Perry agreed to a 30-day suspension and early retirement. Ibid. The agreement required Perry to dismiss discrimination claims he had separately filed with the EEOC. Ibid.
After retiring, Perry appealed his suspension and retirement to the MSPB. Ibid. He alleged discrimination on grounds of race, age, and disability, as well as retaliation by the Bureau for his prior discrimination complaints. Ibid. The settlement, he maintained, did not stand in the way, because the Bureau coerced him into signing it. Ibid.
An MSPB administrative law judge (ALJ) eventually determined that Perry had failed to prove that the settlement was coerced. Perry v. Department of Commerce, No. DC–0752–12–0486–B–1 etc. (Dec. 23, 2013) (initial decision), App. to Pet. for Cert. 32a, 47a. Presuming Perry’s retirement to be voluntary, the ALJ dismissed his case. Id., at 33a, 47a. Voluntary actions are not appealable to the MSPB, the ALJ observed, hence, the ALJ concluded, the Board lacked jurisdiction to entertain Perry’s claims. Id., at 51a.
The MSPB affirmed the ALJ’s decision. See Perry v. Department of Commerce, 2014 WL 5358308, *1 (Aug. 6, 2014) (final order). The settlement agreement, the Board recounted, provided that Perry would waive his Board appeal rights with respect to his suspension and retirement. Ibid. Because Perry did not prove that the agreement was involuntary, the Board determined (in accord with the ALJ) that his separation should be deemed voluntary, hence not an adverse action subject to the Board’s jurisdiction under §7702(a)(1). Id., at *3–*4. If dissatisfied with the MSPB’s ruling, the Board stated in its decision, Perry could seek judicial review in the Federal Circuit. Id., at *4.
Perry instead filed a pro se petition for review in the D. C. Circuit. 829 F.3d, at 763. The court ordered jurisdictional briefing and appointed counsel to argue for Perry. Ibid. By the time the court heard argument, the parties had agreed that the D. C. Circuit lacked jurisdiction, but disagreed on whether the proper forum for judicial review was the Federal Circuit, as the Government contended, or federal district court, as Perry maintained. Ibid.
The D. C. Circuit held that the Federal Circuit had jurisdiction over Perry’s petition and transferred his case to that court under 28 U.S. C. §1631. 829 F.3d, at 763. The court’s disposition was precedent-bound: In a prior decision, Powell v. Department of Defense, 158 F.3d 597, 598 (1998), the D. C. Circuit had held that the Federal Circuit is the proper forum for judicial review of MSPB decisions dismissing mixed cases “on procedural or threshold grounds.” See 829 F.3d, at 764, 767–768. Notably, Powell ranked as a “procedural or threshold matter” “the Board’s view of its jurisdiction.” 158 F.3d, at 599 (internal quotation marks omitted).
The D. C. Circuit rejected Perry’s argument that Powell was undermined by this Court’s intervening decision in Kloeckner, which held MSPB procedural dispositions of mixed cases reviewable in district court. 829 F.3d, at 764–768. Kloeckner, the D. C. Circuit observed, repeatedly tied its decision to dismissals on “procedural grounds,” 568 U.S., at 44, 46, 49, 52, 54, 55. See 829 F.3d, at 765. Jurisdictional dismissals differ from procedural dismissals, the D. C. Circuit concluded, given the CSRA’s reference to mixed cases as those “which the employee . . . may appeal to the [MSPB].” Id., at 766–767 (quoting §7702(a)(1)(A); emphasis added). A jurisdictional dismissal, the court said, rests on the Board’s determination that the employee may not appeal his case to the MSPB. Id., at 766–767. In contrast, a dismissal on procedural grounds, e.g., untimely resort to the MSPB, leaves the employee still “affected by an action which [she] may appeal to the MSPB.” Ibid. (quoting §7702(a)(1)(A); alteration in original).
We granted certiorari to review the D. C. Circuit’s decision, 580 U. S. ___ (2017), which accords with the Federal Circuit’s decision in Conforto v. Merit Systems Protection Bd., 713 F.3d 1111 (2013).