Opinion ID: 419201
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Veterans' Preference Act

Text: 7 Orloff argues that the manner of his termination violated the procedural protections of the Veterans' Preference Act. See 5 U.S.C. Sec. 7513. 1 Orloff is a veteran and would ordinarily be entitled to the protections of the Act. 5 U.S.C. Secs. 2108(1)(A) and 2108(3)(A). The VA argues that these procedural requirements do not apply because the Administrator appointed Orloff pursuant to a statute authorizing the employment of part-time physicians without regard to civil service or classification laws. 38 U.S.C. Sec. 4114(a)(1). We agree with the VA. The plain language of the statute states that civil service laws shall not apply to part-time physicians employed by the VA and the Veterans Preference Act falls within the category of civil service laws. 2 8 Orloff argues that Congress meant the phrase civil service laws in the statute to mean the classification laws. 3 See 5 U.S.C. Secs. 5101 et seq. and 5331 et seq. But the plain meaning of the term civil service laws would encompass a scope of laws broader than just the classification laws. See, e.g., 5 U.S.C. Sec. 3301 et seq. If Orloff's interpretation had been Congress's meaning, it is inexplicable why they would use the phrase civil service or classification laws if they thought the terms were equivalent. See Tabor v. Ulloa, 323 F.2d 823, 824 (9th Cir.1963) (Congress, in enactment of statute, is presumed to have used no superfluous words). 4 9 Nevertheless, Orloff argues that his interpretation is supported by the legislative history of the Act. See Heppner v. Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., 665 F.2d 868 (9th Cir.1981) (discussion of the appropriateness of considering legislative history in interpretation of facially clear statute). The legislative history indicates that, when Sec. 4114 was enacted in 1946, the quality of health care provided by VA doctors concerned Congress. 91 Cong.Rec. 11656-65 (1945). It is true, as Orloff argues, that when Congress amended the statute in 1962 to include the phrase civil service laws, it intended to give the VA authority to hire additional personnel on a fee-basis in order to obtain the services of qualified personnel without the constraints of the classification laws, which require equal pay for performances of similar jobs in the federal government. See 1962 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 2101-03. Congress in adopting Sec. 4114 also wanted to give the Administrator authority to employ or discharge doctors without the usual time-consuming and detailed civil service procedures. 91 Cong.Rec. 111656-65. This purpose is consistent with a Congressional desire to free the Administrator of the procedural requirements of such statutes as the Veterans' Preference Act. It allows the Administrator to obtain more easily the services of highly qualified personnel and to release more easily unsatisfactory personnel. See Heppner, 665 F.2d at 871-72 (When the statutory language together with the legislative history makes one interpretation overwhelmingly more plausible than a second interpretation, there is no necessity that the legislative history explicitly rule out the second interpretation). 10 Finally, we note that the regulations promulgated by the Office of Personnel Management (and formerly by the Civil Service Commission) make this exclusion of the Veterans Preference Act even more explicit by listing the Act as one of the various statutes which does not apply to appointments made pursuant to Sec. 4114(a). See 5 C.F.R. Sec. 752.401(c)(14). 5 See also 5 C.F.R. Sec. 212.101(b). In reviewing the administrative interpretation given a statute by the enforcing agency, the agency interpretation is entitled to deference. See Udall v. Tallman, 380 U.S. 1, 16, 85 S.Ct. 792, 801, 13 L.Ed.2d 616 (1965); Faulkner v. Watt, 661 F.2d 809 (9th Cir.1981). We conclude that the procedural protections of the Veterans' Preference Act do not apply to part-time physicians, such as Orloff, hired by the VA under the authority of 38 U.S.C. Sec. 4114(a).