Court Opinion

ID: 9372992
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-02-22 16:02:01.341833+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:39.292115
License: Public Domain

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
                   MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD

JACQUELIN CHARLENE BARBOUR,                     DOCKET NUMBER
             Appellant,                         DC-1221-20-0234-W-1

             v.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND                        DATE: January 27, 2023
  HUMAN SERVICES,
            Agency.

        THIS FINAL ORDER IS NONPRECEDENTIAL 1

      Jacquelin Charlene Barbour, Cary, North Carolina, pro se.

      Celene Wislon, Bethesda, Maryland, for the agency.

      Elise Harris, Atlanta, Georgia, for the agency.

                                      BEFORE

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

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   A nonprecedential order is one that the Board has determined does not add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 Parties may cite nonprecedential orders,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

                                           FINAL ORDER

¶1        The appellant has filed a petition for review of the initial decision, which
     dismissed her individual right of action appeal without prejudice to refiling. For
     the reasons set forth below, we DISMISS the petition for review as moot.
¶2        In his January 8, 2020 initial decision, the administrative judge dismissed
     the appeal without        prejudice to refiling      on or before         July 6, 2020.
     Barbour v. Department of Health & Human Services, MSPB Docket No.
     DC-1221-20-0234-W-1,        Initial    Appeal     File,     Tab    5,   Initial    Decision.
     The appellant timely filed a petition for review of the initial decision on
     January 14, 2020. Petition for Review (PFR) File, Tab 1. While the petition for
     review was pending, the regional office automatically refiled the appeal on
     July 6, 2020.      Barbour v. Department of Health & Human Services,
     MSPB Docket No. DC-1221-20-0234-W-2, Appeal File (W-2 AF), Tab 1.
     On July 10, 2020, the administrative judge dismissed the refiled appeal without
     prejudice to refiling on or before July 12, 2021. W-2 AF, Tab 7. The petition for
     review of the first initial decision was still pending when the regional office
     automatically   refiled    the    appeal   a    second      time   on   July      12,   2021.
     Barbour v. Department of Health & Human Services, MSPB Docket No.
     DC-1221-20-0234-W-3, Appeal File (W-3 AF), Tab 1. On July 27, 2021, the
     administrative judge issued an initial decision dismissing the refiled appeal with
     prejudice as withdrawn.          W-3 AF, Tab 6.      That decision became the final
     decision of the Board when neither party filed a petition for review before the
     August 31, 2021 filing deadline. Id. at 2.
¶3        The only matter before the Board in this petition for review is whether the
     first dismissal without prejudice was proper. 2           The remedy for an improperly

     2
      On July 26, 2021, the appellant filed a pleading with the Board seemingly seeking to
     withdraw her petition for review. PFR File, Tab 6. On July 29, 2021, the Office of the
     Clerk of the Board issued an order requiring the appellant to confirm her intent to
     withdraw the petition for review and her understanding that any withdrawal is with
                                                                                            3

     granted dismissal without prejudice is remand to the regional office for further
     adjudication of the appeal.     See, e.g., Dey v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
     106 M.S.P.R. 167, ¶¶ 9-11 (2007).        However, the underlying appeal has been
     refiled twice and ultimately dismissed with prejudice as withdrawn during the
     pendency of this petition for review. Therefore, there is no meaningful relief the
     Board could grant even if we determined that the first dismissal without prejudice
     should not have been granted.       See White v. International Boundary & Water
     Commission, 59 M.S.P.R. 62, 64-65 (1993) (dismissing a petition for review as
     moot when the Board could not grant effective relief). We therefore dismiss the
     petition for review. See Villarreal v. Department of the Treasury, 13 M.S.P.R.
     82, 84 (1982) (dismissing a petition for review as moot in light of the appellant’s
     decision not to refile his appeal because a Board opinion on the initial decision
     would have no effect on the parties in question).
¶4         This is the final order of the Merit Systems Protection Board in this appeal.
     5 C.F.R. § 1201.113(c).

                               NOTICE OF APPEAL RIGHTS 3
           You may obtain review of this final decision. 5 U.S.C. § 7703(a)(1). By
     statute, the nature of your claims determines the time limit for seeking such
     review and the appropriate forum with which to file.             5 U.S.C. § 7703(b).
     Although we offer the following summary of available appeal rights, the Merit
     Systems Protection Board does not provide legal advice on which option is most

     prejudice to refiling with the Board. PFR File, Tab 7. The Office of the Clerk of the
     Board informed her that, if she failed to respond, it would take no further action
     regarding the withdrawal request and the Board would issue a decision on her petition
     for review upon restoration of a quorum. Id. The appellant has taken no further action
     to effect the withdrawal of her petition, and, therefore, we do not treat her petition as
     withdrawn.
     3
       Since the issuance of the initial decision in this matter, the Board may have updated
     the notice of review rights included in final decisions. As indicated in the notice, the
     Board cannot advise which option is most appropriate in any matter.
                                                                                       4

appropriate for your situation and the rights described below do not represent a
statement of how courts will rule regarding which cases fall within their
jurisdiction.   If you wish to seek review of this final decision, you should
immediately review the law applicable to your claims and carefully follow all
filing time limits and requirements. Failure to file within the applicable time
limit may result in the dismissal of your case by your chosen forum.
      Please read carefully each of the three main possible choices of review
below to decide which one applies to your particular case. If you have questions
about whether a particular forum is the appropriate one to review your case, you
should contact that forum for more information.

      (1) Judicial review in general. As a general rule, an appellant seeking
judicial review of a final Board order must file a petition for review with the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which must be received by the court
within 60 calendar days of the date of issuance of this decision.               5 U.S.C.
§ 7703(b)(1)(A).
      If you submit a petition for review to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Federal   Circuit,   you   must   submit   your   petition   to   the   court    at   the
following address:
                              U.S. Court of Appeals
                              for the Federal Circuit
                             717 Madison Place, N.W.
                             Washington, D.C. 20439

      Additional information about the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit is available at the court’s website, www.cafc.uscourts.gov. Of particular
relevance is the court’s “Guide for Pro Se Petitioners and Appellants,” which is
contained within the court’s Rules of Practice, and Forms 5, 6, 10, and 11.
      If you are interested in securing pro bono representation for an appeal to
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, you may visit our website at
http://www.mspb.gov/probono for information regarding pro bono representation
                                                                                    5

for Merit Systems Protection Board appellants before the Federal Circuit . The
Board neither endorses the services provided by any attorney nor warrants that
any attorney will accept representation in a given case.

      (2) Judicial   or   EEOC     review   of   cases     involving    a   claim   of
discrimination. This option applies to you only if you have claimed that you
were affected by an action that is appealable to the Board and that such action
was based, in whole or in part, on unlawful discrimination. If so, you may obtain
judicial review of this decision—including a disposition of your discrimination
claims—by filing a civil action with an appropriate U.S. district court ( not the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit), within 30 calendar days after you
receive this decision.     5 U.S.C. § 7703(b)(2); see Perry v. Merit Systems
Protection Board, 582 U.S. ____ , 137 S. Ct. 1975 (2017).              If you have a
representative in this case, and your representative receives this decision before
you do, then you must file with the district court no later than 30 calendar days
after your representative receives this decision. If the action involves a claim of
discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or a disabling
condition, you may be entitled to representation by a court-appointed lawyer and
to waiver of any requirement of prepayment of fees, costs, or other security. See
42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f) and 29 U.S.C. § 794a.
      Contact information for U.S. district courts can be found at their respective
websites, which can be accessed through the link below:
      http://www.uscourts.gov/Court_Locator/CourtWebsites.aspx.
      Alternatively, you may request review by the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) of your discrimination claims only, excluding
all other issues. 5 U.S.C. § 7702(b)(1). You must file any such request with the
EEOC’s Office of Federal Operations within 30 calendar days after you receive
this decision. 5 U.S.C. § 7702(b)(1). If you have a representative in this case,
and your representative receives this decision before you do, then you must file
                                                                                      6

with the EEOC no later than 30 calendar days after your representative receives
this decision.
      If you submit a request for review to the EEOC by regular U.S. mail, the
address of the EEOC is:
                            Office of Federal Operations
                     Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
                                  P.O. Box 77960
                             Washington, D.C. 20013

      If you submit a request for review to the EEOC via commercial delivery or
by a method requiring a signature, it must be addressed to:
                            Office of Federal Operations
                     Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
                                 131 M Street, N.E.
                                   Suite 5SW12G
                             Washington, D.C. 20507

      (3) Judicial     review   pursuant     to   the   Whistleblower       Protection
Enhancement Act of 2012. This option applies to you only if you have raised
claims of reprisal for whistleblowing disclosures under 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(8) or
other protected activities listed in 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), or (D).
If so, and your judicial petition for review “raises no challenge to the Board’s
disposition of allegations of a prohibited personnel practice described in section
2302(b) other than practices described in section 2302(b)(8), or 2302(b)(9)(A)(i),
(B), (C), or (D),” then you may file a petition for judicial review either with the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit or any court of appeals of
competent jurisdiction. 4   The court of appeals must receive your petition for

4
   The original statutory provision that provided for judicial review of certain
whistleblower claims by any court of appeals of competent jurisdiction expired on
December 27, 2017. The All Circuit Review Act, signed into law by the President on
July 7, 2018, permanently allows appellants to file petitions for judicial review of
MSPB decisions in certain whistleblower reprisal cases with the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit or any other circuit court of appeals of competent jurisdiction.
The All Circuit Review Act is retroactive to November 26, 2017. Pub. L. No. 115-195,
132 Stat. 1510.
                                                                                  7

review within 60 days of the date of issuance of this decision.          5 U.S.C.
§ 7703(b)(1)(B).
      If you submit a petition for judicial review to the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Federal Circuit, you must submit your petition to the court at the
following address:
                             U.S. Court of Appeals
                             for the Federal Circuit
                            717 Madison Place, N.W.
                            Washington, D.C. 20439

      Additional information about the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit is available at the court’s website, www.cafc.uscourts.gov. Of particular
relevance is the court’s “Guide for Pro Se Petitioners and Appellants,” which is
contained within the court’s Rules of Practice, and Forms 5, 6, 10, and 11.
      If you are interested in securing pro bono representation for an appeal to
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, you may visit our website at
http://www.mspb.gov/probono for information regarding pro bono representation
for Merit Systems Protection Board appellants before the Federal Circuit. The
Board neither endorses the services provided by any attorney nor warrants that
any attorney will accept representation in a given case.
      Contact information for the courts of appeals can be found at their
respective websites, which can be accessed through the link below:
      http://www.uscourts.gov/Court_Locator/CourtWebsites.aspx.

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