Court Opinion

ID: 9839499
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-13 15:01:49.986341+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:40:13.438466
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-1744   Document: 13     Page: 1   Filed: 08/21/2023

           NOTE: This order is nonprecedential.

   United States Court of Appeals
       for the Federal Circuit
                 ______________________

                CHRISTINA MCMILLIN,
                      Petitioner

                            v.

      DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS,
                   Respondent
             ______________________

                       2023-1744
                 ______________________

    Petition for review of the Merit Systems Protection
 Board in No. DA-0752-22-0328-I-1.
                 ______________________

     Before CHEN, MAYER, and STOLL, Circuit Judges.
 PER CURIAM.
                       ORDER
     The Department of Veterans Affairs responds to the
 court’s May 25, 2023, show cause order urging dismissal.
 Christina McMillin has not responded.
      Ms. McMillin appealed her removal to the Merit Sys-
 tems Protection Board. On January 4, 2023, an adminis-
 trative judge entered a settlement agreement into the
 record and dismissed the appeal, stating that the order
 would become final as of February 8, 2023. Ms. McMillin
 filed a petition for this court’s review of the Board’s
Case: 23-1744     Document: 13      Page: 2     Filed: 08/21/2023

 2                                              MCMILLIN v. DVA

 February 8, 2023, decision, and her filings indicate that she
 argued before the Board that her adverse employment ac-
 tion was based on discrimination and that she wishes to
 continue to pursue that claim. See ECF No. 6.
     We lack jurisdiction to review a “mixed case” from the
 Board—one in which a federal employee (1) complains of
 having suffered a serious adverse personnel action appeal-
 able to the Board and (2) attributes the adverse action, in
 whole or in part, to bias prohibited by certain federal anti-
 discrimination laws. See Harris v. SEC, 972 F.3d 1307,
 1317–18 (Fed. Cir. 2020); Perry v. Merit Sys. Prot. Bd., 582
 U.S. 420, 426 (2017) (holding that federal district court is
 the proper forum for review of mixed cases from the Board);
 5 U.S.C. § 7703(b)(1); 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(9).
      Where we lack jurisdiction, and if it is in the interest of
 justice, we shall transfer the case to an appropriate court
 where the case “could have been brought at the time it was
 filed,” 28 U.S.C. § 1631. Here, we conclude that would be
 the United States District Court for the Eastern District of
 Texas, where it appears that Ms. McMillin resides and the
 employment practice occurred. Although the Department
 urges dismissal, we deem it the better course to transfer to
 allow the district court to consider any of Ms. McMillin’s
 challenges to the final decision.
     Accordingly,
     IT IS ORDERED THAT:
      Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1631, this case and all trans-
 mittals are transferred to the United States District Court
 for the Eastern District of Texas.
                                          FOR THE COURT

 August 21, 2023                          /s/ Jarrett B. Perlow
     Date                                 Jarrett B. Perlow
                                          Clerk of Court