Court Opinion

ID: 9926334
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-01-24 17:01:04.337672+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:22:41.710219
License: Public Domain

Case: 24-1077     Document: 15      Page: 1    Filed: 01/24/2024

            NOTE: This order is nonprecedential.

   United States Court of Appeals
       for the Federal Circuit
                   ______________________

             MICHAEL E. STEVENSON, JR.,
                     Petitioner

                               v.

       DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS,
                    Respondent
              ______________________

                         2024-1077
                   ______________________

    Petition for review of the Merit Systems Protection
 Board in No. DA-0714-19-0524-I-1.
                 ______________________

     Before LOURIE, PROST, and STOLL, Circuit Judges.
 PER CURIAM.
                          ORDER
      In response to this court’s December 6, 2023, order di-
 recting the parties to show cause whether Michael E. Ste-
 venson, Jr.’s petition for review should be dismissed or
 transferred, Mr. Stevenson responds that he “wish[es] to
 file a civil action . . . for racial and disability discrimina-
 tion[] based on [the Merit Systems Protection Board’s] final
 decision,” ECF No. 10 at 2, and the Department of Veterans
 Affairs urges transfer to the United States District Court
Case: 24-1077     Document: 15      Page: 2    Filed: 01/24/2024

 2                                            STEVENSON v. DVA

 for the Western District of Oklahoma. Mr. Stevenson also
 files a motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis.
     We generally have jurisdiction to review final Board
 decisions except in “[c]ases of discrimination subject to the
 provisions of [5 U.S.C. §] 7702,” 5 U.S.C. § 7703(b)(2),
 which include Mr. Stevenson’s case: he alleged he was “af-
 fected by an action which the employee . . . may appeal to
 the [Board]” and “that a basis for the action was [covered]
 discrimination,” § 7702(a)(1).      Those cases (including
 Mr. Stevenson’s) are to be brought in federal district court.
 § 7703(b)(2); Perry v. Merit Sys. Prot. Bd., 582 U.S. 420, 437
 (2017); see Martin v. Dep’t of Veterans Affs., Appeal No.
 2022-1010, ECF No. 22 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 11, 2022); Gates v.
 Dep’t of Veterans Affs., Appeal No. 2020-2187, ECF No. 25
 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 2, 2021).
     Where we lack jurisdiction, and if it is in the interest of
 justice, we will transfer a case to an appropriate court. 28
 U.S.C. § 1631. Here, we agree with the parties and con-
 clude that transfer to the Western District of Oklahoma,
 where the employment action occurred, is appropriate. *
     Accordingly,

     *   We note that Mr. Stevenson requests the court ap-
 point an attorney for him and permit him to proceed with-
 out paying the fees and cost of the civil action, but those
 issues, among others, will be for the district court to decide.
Case: 24-1077    Document: 15      Page: 3    Filed: 01/24/2024

 STEVENSON v. DVA                                           3

     IT IS ORDERED THAT:
     This matter and all of the filings are transmitted to the
 United States District Court for the Western District of Ok-
 lahoma pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1631.
                                               FOR THE COURT

 January 24, 2024
      Date