May 2022 Federal Employment Law Training Group Newsletter
Three Things to Know in the Civil Service This Month
FELTG Nation: Here are three recent happenings you should know about:
- Last week, the Senate confirmed Susan Tsui Grundmann to be a Member at the Federal Labor Relations Authority. There are now two Democrats and one Republican on the FLRA. As a result, we anticipate a significant change in philosophy – and in the outcome of FLRA decisions.
- On May 12, the MSPB issued a decision confirming that the Santos v. NASA requirement to prove unacceptable performance before a PIP is retroactive to the Petitions for Review in the backlog. Expect a lot of remands in the coming months.
- The EEOC and DOJ are looking into potential disability discrimination when employers use artificial intelligence (AI) and other software tools to make employment decisions. They released a technical assistance document in attempt to prevent discrimination from occurring.
This month’s newsletter discusses a supervisor who filed a hostile environment harassment claim against an employee, why hybrid doesn’t have to be a bummer, the meaning of nexus, and more.
Take care,
Deborah J. Hopkins, FELTG President
That Time a Supervisor Was Harassed by His Employee for Being Gay – and the Agency Was Liable
By Deborah Hopkins, May 16, 2022 Every now and then, a supervisor in one of my classes will ask if they have a right to file an EEO complaint alleging harassment by a subordinate employee. I’ll tell them yes, they do have that right. I also tell them handling the...
Disciplining Management: The Bigger They Are, the Easier They Fall
By Barbara Haga, May 16, 2022 In supervisory training classes, I have heard participants comment about a double standard for corrective action. In essence, they said that if a non-supervisory employee messed up and violated some conduct rule, he would be hammered, but...
The Good News: Hybrid Doesn’t Have to Be Horrible
By Ann Boehm, May 16, 2022 I'm predicting it now. The Merriam-Webster word of 2022 will be “hybrid.” I could be wrong. They may choose “inflation.” But I’m an employment lawyer, so I’m going with “hybrid.” In case you don’t pay attention to the Merriam-Webster word of...
Willful and Intentional: Know When You’re Dealing With Insubordination
By Dan Gephart, May 16, 2022 Have you ever had an employee challenge your order or refuse an assignment? Has an employee ever replied to an order with the question: What gives you the right to make me do this? Regarding the latter, the answer is simple -- 5 USC...
Explaining the Nexus Requirement in Misconduct Cases
By Deborah Hopkins, May 16, 2022 One of the considerable ways in which Federal employment is different from at-will employment, is that the Civil Service Reform Act allows a Federal agency to fire a career employee only for cause (with a few exceptions we won’t get...
There’s a Lot to Learn From This Year’s FEVS Results
By Michael Rhoads, May 16, 2022 The results are in! Every year, OPM takes the pulse of what Federal employees are thinking and catches the latest trends. It’s a great chance for agencies to take pride in what they are doing well, recalibrate what needs to be...