The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently released a memo pushing federal agencies to "strive for demanding metrics" when evaluating employees. The OPM states federal agencies should use demanding metrics to help properly reward outstanding...
Wrongful Termination
Federal employee fights back after fired for Facebook comment
A local government agency recently fired a 911 dispatcher for comments she made on social media. The federal employee made a comment on Facebook in response to the election of President Donald Trump in 2016. She states that due to this comment, her employer terminated...
When federal employees are wrongfully terminated
Losing a job is a terrible thing to go through. The initial shock, followed by uncertainty make this a very stressful situation.There are many legitimate reasons why an employer may fire an employee.But when someone loses their job for illegal reasons, it is critical...
Forget to state your claim and you could lose your case
The legal world can be tricky. There are very specific rules to follow and a failure to follow those rules can result in you losing your case — even if based on the merits and facts of the case it is clear you should have won.A recent case provides an example.The case...
Research contractor for DOD wins retaliation lawsuit
A female employee recently accused a federal contractor with the Department of Defense (DOD) out of Texas, Southwest Research (SwRI), of sex discrimination. Shortly after the accusations, the contractor fired the employee. This resulted in accusations of...
What federal employees facing a proposed removal need to know
Before a government agency can remove a non-probationary employee, it must issue a proposed removal letter. The employee has the opportunity to respond to the proposal. Then the employer will issue a decision letter.Unfortunately, a lot can go wrong in this process....
Federal laws protect you from retaliation, wrongful termination
Wrongful termination and retaliatory actions against an employee are major problems in employment law. The lives of people and families hang in the balance, and the fact that certain companies take an illegal or punitive course of action is outrageous. They are not...
Does my government employment guarantee me due process?
Every American citizen has a right to due process. That's the concept under the Constitution that says that the government can't treat any individual unfairly or arbitrarily. We may think that this theory of law only applies to someone charged with a criminal offense,...
How important is a paper trail in fighting wrongful termination?
The movie "All the President's Men" tells the true story of how intrepid reporters broke the Watergate Scandal that ultimately sank the presidency of Richard Nixon back in the 1970s. The source of the most damning leads was a person identified at the time only as...
GSA employee was “wrongfully dismissed” according to MSPB
In the government, there can be many types of scandals. Some, like Watergate, contain multiple incidents of legal violations made at the highest levels. Others should only be called scandal in quotes. The GSA conference overspending "scandal" appears to have been one...
