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.Does Fed Circuit Case Signal End of Singh Comparator Analysis?
By Deborah J. Hopkins, January 29, 2024 A FELTG reader recently asked whether a newly issued Federal Circuit decision overturned MSPB’s comparator analysis set out in Singh v. USPS, 2022 MSPB 15 (May 31, 2022). For those unfamiliar with the long and tumultuous history...
And Now a Word With … FCA Chairman/CEO Vincent Logan
By Dan Gephart, January 23, 2024 It’s been said many times -- and then many more times: For DEIA efforts to be successful, organizations need support from top leadership. For how that looks in the Federal sector, one needs only to see what’s happening with the Farm...
Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Teleworker AWOL When He Failed to Report to Office
By Deborah Hopkins, January 8, 2024 Numerous return-to-the-workplace mandates have been implemented at varying levels over the past year. At FELTG, we’ve received questions about an agency’s authority to require an employee to report to the office -- and what to do if...
Does it Matter if a Dog is a Service Animal or Emotional Support Animal?
By Deborah J. Hopkins, January 2, 2024 Philadelphia baseball fans may recall a few months ago when a man attempted to bring his emotional support alligator to a Phillies game. The animal was denied entrance. We’ve written about service animals and emotional support...
Year in Review: Top FELTG Newsletter Stories of 2023
By Dan Gephart, December 12, 2023 FELTG Nation, welcome to another year-end News Flash, where we reveal the two most popular FELTG newsletter stories (based on the number of reads and forwards) for each month of 2023. This is our fifth year in this format, which...
How Not to Handle Religious Accommodation Requests
By Deborah J. Hopkins, November 28, 2023 In the FELTG November newsletter, I wrote about a few cases involving hostile work environment claims based on religion. This week, our focus turns to claims of religious discrimination from another angle – reasonable...
And Now a Word With … OPM Deputy Director Rob Shriver
By Dan Gephart, November 6, 2023 As his term wound down three years ago, then-President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order that created a new category of Federal employees called Schedule F, much to the dismay of numerous Federal employees, unions, good government...
Can Using the Term ‘Master Bedroom’ be Considered Workplace Harassment?
By Deborah J. Hopkins, October 30, 2023 When I was in high school in the 1990s, students would usually refer to something they thought was stupid or ridiculous by saying: “That’s so gay.” I cannot imagine such a phrase being used among my peers today. Socially...
Expect More Religious Advocacy, Accommodation Requests
By Dan Gephart, October 2, 2023 During Pride Month this year, a group of employees at a tech firm were frustrated by what they deemed was their employer’s “overt” LGBTQ advocacy. The employees, members of a faith-based employee resource group, considered a walkout....
‘Consensual’ Relationships and Sexual Harassment in Wake of MSU Investigation
By Deborah J. Hopkins, September 18, 2023 About 10 days ago, news broke that Michigan State head football coach Mel Tucker allegedly sexually harassed Brenda Tracy, a rape survivor whom he brought in to provide training for his players on the meaning of affirmative...