Court Opinion

ID: 9376601
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-03-03 07:00:09.463758+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:17:07.811649
License: Public Domain

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
                        MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD

     VERNA LEWIS,                                    DOCKET NUMBER
                         Appellant,                  NY-0752-13-0408-I-1

                  v.

     UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE,                   DATE: March 2, 2023
                   Agency.

                  THIS ORDER IS NONPRECEDENTIAL 1

           Kavin L. Edwards, Esquire, New York, New York, for the appellant.

           Donald Spector, Esquire, New York, New York, for the agency.

                                           BEFORE

                               Cathy A. Harris, Vice Chairman
                                Raymond A. Limon, Member
                                Tristan L. Leavitt, Member 2

                                      REMAND ORDER

¶1         The appellant has filed a petition for review of the initial decision, which
     dismissed her appeal for lack of jurisdiction. For the reasons discussed below, we

     1
        A nonprecedential order is one that the Board has determined does not add
     significantly to the body of MSPB case law. Parties may cite nonprecedential orders,
     but such orders have no precedential value; the Board and administrative judges are not
     required to follow or distinguish them in any future decisions. In contrast, a
     precedential decision issued as an Opinion and Order has been identified by the Board
     as significantly contributing to the Board’s case law. See 5 C.F.R. § 1201.117(c).
     2
       Member Leavitt’s name is included in decisions on which the three -member Board
     completed the voting process prior to his March 1, 2023 d eparture.
                                                                                       2

     GRANT the appellant’s petition for review, VACATE the initial decision, and
     REMAND the case to the regional office 3 for further adjudication in accordance
     with this Remand Order.

                                      BACKGROUND
¶2         On August 6, 2013, the appellant filed an appeal challenging a denial of
     restoration and an alleged involuntary retirement, and she raised allegations of
     disability discrimination. Initial Appeal File (IAF), Tab 1 at 2. Attached to her
     appeal, she submitted a copy of a February 14, 2013 decision removing her from
     her position, effective March 23, 2013, for inability to perform the essential
     functions of her position. Id. at 44-45. She also attached a copy of a July 3, 2013
     final agency decision (FAD) concerning her equal employment opportunity (EEO)
     complaint in which she alleged that the agency’s removal action constituted
     disability discrimination. Id. at 13-39.
¶3         The administrative judge issued a jurisdictional order informing the
     appellant of her burden of establishing jurisdiction over her alleged involuntary
     disability retirement. IAF, Tab 7. After allowing the parties an opportunity to
     respond and holding a status conference, the administrative judge issued an order
     finding that, because the agency had not processed the appellant’s separation as a
     retirement, the appeal was not an involuntary disability retirement appeal but
     rather a timely mixed-case appeal of the appellant’s removal for inability to
     perform the essential functions of her position. IAF, Tab 15.
¶4         The case was subsequently reassigned to another administrative judge who,
     after holding the requested hearing, issued an initial decision dismissing the
     appeal for lack of jurisdiction.     IAF, Tab 67, Initial Decision (ID).        The
     administrative judge characterized the appellant’s appeal as an involuntary

     3
      On March 23, 2016, this appeal was reassigned from the New York Field Office to the
     Northeastern Regional Office. IAF, Tab 43.
                                                                                         3

     disability retirement appeal and found that such a claim “fails” becaus e “[i]n this
     case, we do not have the requisite retirement.” ID at 4 -5. The administrative
     judge also addressed the appellant’s claims of improper restoration, constructive
     suspension, and disability discrimination.          Regarding the appellant’s alleged
     improper restoration, he found that the appellant failed to establish Board
     jurisdiction because it was undisputed that she had been restored to a part-time
     position on or about April 4, 2005. ID at 2-3. The administrative judge found
     that the appellant’s constructive suspension claim failed because there was no
     evidence that the agency was unwilling to allow her to work in accordance with a
     modified work assignment she accepted on August 5, 2005. ID at 3 -4. Finally,
     the administrative judge found that the Board lacks jurisdiction over the
     appellant’s allegations of disability discrimination prior to December 15, 2005,
     because such claims had been resolved via a settlement agreement the appellant
     had entered into with the agency on December 15, 2005. ID at 5.
¶5         The appellant has filed a petition for review. Petition for Review (PFR)
     File, Tab 1. The agency has opposed the appellant’s petition. PFR File, Tab 3.

                      DISCUSSION OF ARGUMENTS ON REVIEW
¶6         The Board has held that an initial decision must identify all material issues
     of fact and law, summarize the evidence, resolve issues of credibility, and i nclude
     the administrative judge’s conclusions of law and his legal reasoning, as well as
     the authorities on which that reasoning rests. Spithaler v. Office of Personnel
     Management, 1 M.S.P.R. 587, 589 (1980); 5 C.F.R. § 1201.111(b).             If any of
     these items is missing or substantially incomplete, the Board will remand the
     appeal to the administrative judge for modification. Miller v. U.S. Postal Service,
     117 M.S.P.R. 557, ¶ 14 (2012). Based on our review of the record, we find that
     the initial decision fails to meet this standard.
¶7         The record reflects that, at the beginning of the hearing, the administrative
     judge identified for the record the issues in this appeal as whether the agency
                                                                                            4

     properly separated the appellant effective March 23, 2013, by a letter of decision
     dated February 14, 2013, and if not, was the agency’s failure because of the
     appellant’s disability in violation of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 701.
     IAF, Tab 64, Hearing Compact Disc (HCD) at 9:11 (statement of the
     administrative judge). This is consistent with the administrative judge’s order
     and summary of prehearing conference.               IAF, Tab 58.         However, the
     administrative judge did not address the merits of the appellant’s removal in the
     initial decision.   Instead, he found that the Board lacks jurisdiction over the
     appeal as an involuntary disability retirement appeal because the appellant had
     not retired. ID at 5. The initial decision fails to acknowledge the prior Board
     order finding jurisdiction over the appellant’s appeal as a mixed-case removal
     appeal, IAF, Tab 15, or provide any indication that the order had been overruled
     or modified. Accordingly, on remand, the administrative judge shall adjudicate
     the merits of the appellant’s removal for inability to perform the essential
     functions of her position. 4    The administrative judge shall also adjudicate the
     appellant’s affirmative defense of disability discriminatio n.
¶8         Regarding the appellant’s improper restoration and constructive suspension
     claims, prior to holding a hearing, the record was not developed as to the nature
     of these claims or whether the appellant had raised nonfrivolous allegations of
     Board jurisdiction entitling her to a hearing. Further, despite holding a hearing,
     the initial decision fails to explain the factual background surrounding these
     claims, including the relevant time periods for which the appellant contends she
     4
       A Postal Service employee has a right to appeal an adverse action to the Board if she
     (1) is a preference eligible, a management or supervisory employee, or an employee
     engaged in personnel work in other than a purely nonconfidential clerical capacity, and
     (2) has completed 1-year of current continuous service in the same or similar position.
     39 U.S.C. § 1005(a)(4)(A); 5 U.S.C. § 7511(a)(1)(B)(ii); Clark v. U.S. Postal Service,
     118 M.S.P.R. 527, ¶ 7 (2012). Although the order finding jurisdiction did not address
     this issue, the record appears to reflect that, at the time of her removal, the appellant
     had been employed as a Supervisor, Customer Service, since 1986. IAF, Tab 1 at 1, 19,
     47-49, Tab 48 at 12, HCD (testimony of the appellant).
                                                                                            5

     was constructively suspended and denied restoration. Also unclear in the initial
     decision is whether the administrative judge’s finding that such claims “fail”
     refers to jurisdictional determinations versus the merits of such claims. ID at 3-4.
¶9         On review, the appellant appears to argue that following a recurrence of her
     compensable injury on June 8, 2006, she was constructively suspended after the
     agency failed to accommodate her by providing ergonomic equipment or
     reassigning her. PFR File, Tab 1 at 6-13. She contends that during this time she
     was required to use sick and annual leave against her will and placed on leave
     without pay. Id. at 6, 12. She also appears to contend that she was effectively
     denied restoration because the agency failed to provide her with requested
     ergonomic equipment when it restored her on or about April 4, 2005. Id. at 6.
     However, because the record was not developed, on remand, the administrative
     judge should clarify the nature of the appellant’s restoration and constructive
     suspension claims, including the relevant time periods. 5 The administrative judge
     shall also consider the appellant’s allegations of disability discrimination in
     connection with her alleged constructive suspension and denial of restoration. 6

     5
       Although the exact nature of the appellant’s claims is somewhat unclear, in some
     contexts, when the facts could give rise to both a constructive suspension claim
     and a restoration claim, the Board has found that the constructive suspension
     claim should be subsumed into the restoration claim. Kinglee v. U.S. Postal
     Service, 114 M.S.P.R. 473 , ¶¶ 19-22 (2010). In a similar vein, when facts give
     rise to both an enforced leave and restoration claim, the enforced leave claim is
     subsumed into the restoration claim. Jenkins v. U.S. Postal Service , 2023 MSPB
     8, ¶ 12.
     6
       The administrative judge found that the Board lacks jurisdiction to consid er the
     appellant’s claims of discrimination prior to December 15, 2005 , based on a settlement
     agreement she entered into on that date, resolving an October 13, 2005 informal EEO
     complaint. ID at 5. The appellant’s informal EEO complaint, however, does not appear
     to be related to her discrimination claims at issue in this appeal. IAF, Tab 12 at 51-56.
     According to the agency, this complaint concerned “working conditions,” and not the
     appellant’s request for ergonomic equipment or reasonable accommodation . Id. at 10.
     According to the appellant, the earlier discrimination claims concerned the disrespectful
     manner in which an agency representative spoke with her and the agency’s failure to
     pay her on September 5, 2005. PFR File, Tab 1 at 14.
                                                                                       6

      See, e.g., Desjardin v. U.S. Postal Service, 2023 MSPB 6, ¶ 21 (outlining the
      manner in which to adjudicate a claim of discrimination in a restoration appeal);
      Bean v. U.S. Postal Service, 120 M.S.P.R. 397, ¶¶ 8, 14-15 (2013) (explaining
      that various fact patterns may give rise to an appealable constructive suspension,
      including a situation in which an appellant claims that he was compelled to take
      leave because the agency improperly failed to accommodate his medical
      condition); Foley v. U.S. Postal Service, 90 M.S.P.R. 206, ¶ 6 (2001) (stating that
      a claim that restoration was effectively denied may involve allegations that a
      partially recovered appellant is incapable of performing the job duties of the
      position to which he was restored).
¶10        Finally, in assessing the appellant’s restoration appeal, the administrative
      judge applied the nonfrivolous jurisdictional standard set forth in the Board’s
      revised regulation, 5 C.F.R. § 1201.57(a)(4), (b), which is applicable to
      restoration appeals filed on or after March 30, 2015. ID at 2-3; see Kingsley v.
      U.S. Postal Service, 123 M.S.P.R. 365, ¶ 10 (2016).        However, because the
      appellant filed her Board appeal on August 6, 2013, prior to the effective date of
      the Board’s revised regulation, she was required to make nonfrivolous allegations
      of jurisdiction to obtain a jurisdictional hearing at which she was required to
      prove jurisdiction by preponderant evidence. Bledsoe v. Merit Systems Protection
      Board, 659 F.3d 1097, 1102-04 (Fed. Cir. 2011). Accordingly, on remand, the
      administrative judge shall assess the appellant’s restoration claim under the
      preponderant evidence standard.
                                                                                    7

                                          ORDER
¶11        For the reasons discussed above, we remand this case to the regional office
      for further adjudication in accordance with this Remand Order.

      FOR THE BOARD:                                  /s/ for
                                              Jennifer Everling
                                              Acting Clerk of the Board
      Washington, D.C.