FELTG News Flash
Sometimes, the news can't wait until our next FELTG Newsletter is published! Check out the latest news, case decisions and developments in the world of federal employment law below.Ask FELTG: Can Agency Consider 10-year-old Suspension as Prior Discipline?
We recently received the following question via Ask FELTG. Dear FELTG: An attorney in my agency’s legal office told me I am not allowed to rely on an employee’s past suspension as prior discipline in a Douglas factors analysis if the suspension is more than 10...
And Now a Word With … MSPB Vice Chair Raymond Limon
By Dan Gephart, June 17, 2024 Just over two years ago, we interviewed the newly sworn in Merit Systems Protection Board Vice Chair Raymond Limon. We discussed how Limon’s previous Federal work would help as the recently quorumed Board planned to tackle an inherited...
Indefinite Suspensions: When Medical Conditions Create Concerns
By Deborah J. Hopkins, June 3, 2024 As we discussed a few weeks ago, an indefinite suspension occurs when an agency puts an employee in a temporary status without duties and without pay for an undetermined period of time. Under the law, an agency may indefinitely...
And Now a Word With … Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger
By Dan Gephart, May 20, 2024 In previous roles with the Justice Department, as a deputy attorney general in the North Carolina Department of Justice, and as chief legal counsel in the Office of the North Carolina Governor, Hampton Dellinger (pictured, at right)...
Indefinite Suspensions: When Employees Engage in Criminal Conduct
By Deborah J. Hopkins, April 29, 2024 An indefinite suspension means placing an employee in a temporary status without duties and pay for an indeterminate period of time. An agency may indefinitely suspend an employee for three reasons only: The agency has reasonable...
Agency Investigation Reveals Supervisor’s Improper Sexual Conduct with His Subordinate
By Deborah J. Hopkins, April 22, 2024 Have you ever thought about this: Allegations of workplace harassment are allegations of employee misconduct. It’s one of the first things we discuss during Conducting Effective Harassment Investigations (next offered April 30-May...
And Now a Word With … EEOC Commissioner Kalpana Kotagal
By Dan Gephart, April 1, 2024 The most recent addition to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has vast experience in DEIA issues, including co-authoring the Oscar ceremony-famous “Inclusion Rider” (more on that later). When Commissioner Kalpana Kotagal agreed...
When an Employee Pulls Out a Knife During a PIP Meeting…
By Deborah J. Hopkins, March 19, 2024 For over two decades, we at FELTG have preached the delicacy and strategy required when charging an appellant with misconduct that requires proof of intent. A recent case shows us how problematic this 6-letter word (i-n-t-e-n-t)...
And Now a Word With … Lindsay Laferriere of the Partnership for Public Service
By Dan Gephart, March 4, 2023 Never read the comments. This is my rule. I strongly believe in it. And yet, I broke the rule once again a few weeks ago. I can’t recall what story I was reading, although it’s a good bet it was about one of Philadelphia’s dysfunctional...
Valentine’s Day Advances Should Not Be in the Cards
By Frank Ferreri, February 12, 2024 In December, we ran a cautionary piece on the Title VII perils of taking season’s greetings a bit too far. This month's holiday raises additional Title VII concerns, albeit for different reasons. The following cases from Federal...