February 2022 Federal Employment Law Training Group Newsletter
The Fallout of Prohibited Substance Use
I’m an Olympics nerd, and proud of it. Every four years (or five, if there’s a global pandemic) I tune in to watch the greatest athletes in the world compete for the gold. Summer, winter, swimming, snowboard half pipe, beach volleyball, Super G, track & field, figure skating – I’m here for it all.
An Olympics cycle never goes by without suspicions or actual findings of athletes who fail drug tests, and Beijing 2022 is no exception. But, Olympic athletes aren’t the only ones who sometimes use banned substances; did you hear about the Federal employee who claimed the two big brownies he ate at a barbecue were laced with marijuana, unbeknownst to him? We’ll discuss the outcome in that case, plus much more on substance rules for Federal employees, on March 3 during the 60-minute virtual session High Times and Misdemeanors: Weed and the Workplace.
This month, we discuss the importance of accurate investigations, how to avoid discrimination in hiring, lack of candor, writing brevity, summary judgment, and IRAs.
Take care,
Deborah J. Hopkins, FELTG President
Three Things You May Not Know About Nondiscriminatory Hiring
By Deborah Hopkins, February 15, 2022 By now, FELTG readers know that Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) in the Federal workplace is a priority for the Biden Administration. And many agencies are in the process of hiring new employees, keeping in...
Ambulance Company Fails to Respond Properly to Harassment Allegation
By Dan Gephart, February 15, 2022 Within 24 hours of receiving an unwelcome picture of a sexual nature from a coworker, EMT Andrea Vasquez was fired. For sexual harassment. How does something like that happen? Vasquez v. Express Ambulance Service, 835 F.3d 267 (2d...
The Good News: Brief is Better
By Ann Boehm, February 15, 2022 Communication in 2022 is dominated by Twitter, which limits users to 280 characters per Tweet. Online news organizations provide news feeds specifying number of words and expected reading time. Brevity is so important that online news...
Questionable Hiring Decision Leads to Bad Behavior in HR Office
By Barbara Haga, February 15, 2022 In August 2020, I wrote about a case involving an HR official who sent racists texts about other employees to subordinates, which the subordinates reported. Jenkins v. Department of Transportation, No. 2019-2075 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 6,...
Save Time with Summary Judgment
By Michael Rhoads, February 15, 2022 Let’s say your agency receives an EEO complaint and follows the EEO complaint process. You’ve investigated the allegations and issued the complainant the report of investigation. The complainant requests an EEOC hearing. At this...
Demystifying the Individual Right of Action
By Deborah Hopkins, February 15, 2022 A lot of FELTG training involves how agencies should handle disciplinary actions known as Otherwise Appealable Actions, or OAAs. OAAs are suspensions of 15 days or more, demotions, and removals. OAAs get their name because they...