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

Heading: Browder’s 2007–2008 Lawsuit

Text: Proceeding pro se, Browder sued the Postmaster General in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama in June 2007. Browder’s 2007 complaint alleged retaliatory discharge and race-discrimination, in violation of Title VII. The Postal Service moved to dismiss, arguing that the settlement agreement deprived the district court of jurisdiction to hear Browder’s claims. In response, Browder claimed that the settlement agreement was invalid because it was not in writing and the Postal Service coerced him into accepting it. In March 2008, the district court adopted the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation (“the report”) and dismissed Browder’s complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Browder v. Potter, No. 2:07-CV-546-MEF, 2008 WL 1 The record does not indicate what action, if any, the ALJ took on Browder’s filing. 4 822132, at  (M.D. Ala. Mar. 26, 2008) (unpublished). The report explained that the district court has jurisdiction to hear a federal employee’s Title VII claim only if the employee has exhausted his administrative remedies against the federal employer. Id. at  (citing Brown v. Gen. Servs. Admin., 425 U.S. 820, 832, 96 S. Ct. 1961, 1967 (1976)). Because Browder settled his claims before the MSPB ruled on his appeal, he failed to exhaust his administrative remedies. Id. at . Alternatively, the district court dismissed Browder’s 2007 complaint because the MSPB did not resolve Browder’s discrimination claims on the merits. Id. at . Under 5 U.S.C. § 7702 and § 7703, the district court has limited jurisdiction to review MSPB rulings, but only if the employee’s claim is based in whole or in part on discrimination (termed a “mixed case”) and the MSPB resolves the “mixed case” on the merits. Id. at –5; see Ballentine v. Merit Systems Protection Bd., 738 F.2d 1244, 1246 (Fed. Cir. 1984); see also 29 C.F.R. § 1614.302(a) (defining a “mixed case complaint” as a complaint of employment discrimination “related to or stemming from an action that can be appealed” to the MSPB). Generally speaking, after proceeding to the MSPB, a federal employee must file any further appeal with the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. 5 U.S.C. § 7703(b)(1). Due to the settlement agreement, the MSPB had not addressed the merits of Browder’s discrimination claims. Accordingly, the district 5 court dismissed Browder’s complaint in March 2008. Lacking subject matter jurisdiction, the district court did not reach Browder’s challenges to the validity of the settlement agreement. Browder, 2008 WL 822132 at  n.4. Browder did not appeal this dismissal.