November 2016 Federal Employment Law Training Group Newsletter
Interesting Times; Important Decisions
And so, it begins. Soon, the leadership in our government will be headed by President Trump and Vice President Pence. The two of them in some fashion will nominate and appoint the 4,000 or so leaders of the various federal agencies. Without knowing any specifics beyond what I read in the comics, it’s a safe bet that this new group will run things differently from the way that President Obama’s leadership team did. Will it be better? Will it be worse? Your opinion is just as good an opinion as anyone else’s opinion, so stick with it, regardless of whether some pollster tells you it should be something else.
And when the New Order details start to emerge, remember the source for all the nitty gritty stuff you will need to continue to hold your workforce accountable, to treat employees fairly and expediently. Here at FELTG, we will be right on top of every change, every new process, every new case that means anything to us in the field of federal employment law. Come to our seminars, read our newsletters, participate in our webinars. Stay an employment law winner because we like winners.
Oops, the phone’s ringing. Excuse me a minute. “Hello. Mike? Mike Pence? How the devil are you, dude? Anything new happening? What’s that you say? You want me to be a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board? And also a member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority? And at the same time to serve as a commissioner over at EEOC? And you want Deb to be the new Special Counsel and simultaneously serve as the General Counsel at FLRA? Gee, man. We’d like to help you guys out, but I’m afraid we just don’t have the time. We’ve got a lot of important upcoming training to do.
In fact, you may want to check out our website www.FELTG.com. In case you have a buddy who would like to come along, we’re running a two-for-one White House special on some very interesting and relevant topics. You’ll know them when you see them.”
Take real good care,
More FELTG Advice for our New President
By William Wiley Here we go again, acting all uppity by advising the new administration without being asked. Well, somebody’s got to do it, and if not FELTG, who else would dare? Dear President-Elect Trump: What took you so long? While you’ve spent the past few years...
Who’s in Charge?
By Barbara Haga Last December I wrote about several MSPB decisions that included “Christmas party” in the text. I thought it would be reasonable this year to follow up to see what other decisions had been issued in the last year or so. I expanded the search to...
EEOC Survives Motion to Dismiss in Federal Court on Claim of Sex Discrimination
By Deryn Sumner In a decision issued on November 4, 2016, the U.S. District Court Judge in EEOC v. Scott Medical Health Center denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss the case and credited the EEOC’s argument that claims of sexual orientation discrimination are...
Agency Legacy Mistake; Board Misplaced Mitigation
By William Wiley Back in the early ’80s, we employment law practitioners were working to try to figure out just what the new laws regarding removing unacceptable performers were all about. One of the unanswered questions from the Act was this: If an agency is...
Clearing Up Some Confusion on Accommodating a Disabled Employee’s Commute
By Deborah Hopkins Reasonable Accommodation for disabilities is (still and always) a hot topic. In response to my article in September’s Newsletter (Is it Just Me, or is Reasonable Accommodation Becoming Trickier?) I received a follow-up question. So let’s continue...
OFO Misconstrues Standard for Grant of Summary Judgment
By Deryn Sumner Although most decisions issued by the EEOC’s Office of Federal Operations affirming grants of summary judgment by administrative judges are worthy of no more than a simple skim, the recent decision of Juanita K. v. Department of Homeland Security, EEOC...
Tables of Penalties Can Be Deadly
By William Wiley Questions, we get questions. And here’s a good one from a longtime reader who is wrestling with an age-old problem: What to do with an unhelpful Table of Penalties. Dear FELTG Rock Stars- I'm another “loyal reader” and dealing with a charge issue. My...
Appendix Q to MD-110 Lists Exactly What Agencies Need to Provide to Prove Compliance
By Deryn Sumner We’ve talked a few times in this space about the changes the Commission made to Management Directive 110 in August 2015. One new addition we haven’t yet discussed is the addition of Appendix Q, a chart that provides examples of the types of evidence...