July 2023 Federal Employment Law Training Group Newsletter
Misconceptions About Security Clearance Revocations Abound
A few weeks ago, Ann Boehm wrote an article about the benefits of employee reassignment – in certain situations, anyway. A fairly new MSPB NP decision dealt with an appellant who was removed for failing to maintain a security clearance, and claimed the agency should have been collaterally estopped from removing her. Part of the appellant’s argument was the agency should have considered a reassignment. Was she right? Nope.
MSPB indicated that “there is no policy, statute, or regulation requiring the reassignment of an agency employee who has failed to maintain a security clearance.”
The topic of security clearance revocation can be confusing, and wouldn’t you know – we’ve got you covered. On August 24 we’re presenting the two-hour virtual training All Clear? When Employee Security Clearances are Revoked or Suspended. You should definitely check it out.
This month’s newsletter discusses a SCOTUS case that alters religious accommodation, effective charging, why letters of counseling continue to plague agencies, and much more.
Take care,
Deborah J. Hopkins, FELTG President
A Big Change for Undue Hardship in Religious Accommodation … or Not?
By Deborah J. Hopkins, July 18, 2023 On June 29, the Supreme Court upended decades of precedent in its unanimous decision Groff v. DeJoy, No. 22–174 (Jun. 29, 2023). Under Title VII, employers are required to accommodate the sincerely held religious beliefs or...
The Good News: Fed Circuit Offers Reminder to Charge Carefully
By Ann Boehm, July 18, 2023 An agency lost a removal case before the Federal Circuit this month. In Williams v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, an arbitrator sustained the employee’s removal, but the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded the arbitrator’s decision because...
First-time Caller, Long-time Loss of Confidence and Trust
By Dan Gephart, July 18, 2023 Sometimes, a Federal employee’s misconduct is so far beyond the pale that it’s impossible to ever again trust that employee. That was certainly the case for a certain IRS contact representative/Howard Stern devotee. Sorry, I meant to say...
Reason #37,129 NOT to Issue a Letter of Warning: EEO Complaint Edition
By Deborah J. Hopkins, July 18, 2023 It may be one of the most written-about topics in this newsletter, but we keep writing because we keep seeing cases where employees challenge letters of warning, caution, counseling, and the like, and agencies get tied up in...
How Preference Eligibility Can ‘Upset’ a Simple Termination Case
By Barbara Haga, July 18, 2023 While the purposes of a trial period and a probationary period are much the same, the rights for excepted service employees who are subject to an adverse action are different than those for competitive service employees. In fact, it...