On October 13, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted a petition for rehearing en banc filed by the Department of Defense, and vacated the court’s panel opinion in Federal Education Association-Stateside Region v. Department of Defense. 841 F.3d 1362 (Fed. Cir. 2016), reversing an arbitrator’s opinion after finding a due process violation. In its October 13, 2017 order, the appeals court requested that the parties address the relevant cases and issues, but specifically requested that the parties address the court’s decisions in Sullivan v. Department of Navy, 720 F.2d 1266 (Fed. Cir. 1983) and Ryder v. United States, 585 F.2d 482 (Ct. Cl. 1978).

In a consolidated multidistrict class action against the Office of Personnel Management following a severe data breach of OPM’s cybersecurity that affected millions of federal employees and former federal employees, federal employees and the union alleged gross negligence and a violation of constitutional rights to informational privacy, but the United States District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the case on September 19, 2017. On October 12, 2017, the employees appealed the dismissal to the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C Circuit.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the MSPB’s dismissal of a Department of Homeland Security employee’s Individual Right of Action (“IRA”) whistleblower retaliation appeal.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned an arbitrator’s decision sustaining the employee’s removal for violating the agency’s time and attendance policies after finding that the arbitrator erred by imposing a “categorical rule of exclusion” against using employees who are similarly situated and under investigation as comparators when arguing that a penalty is not reasonable.

On July 10, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that because liability under the workers’ compensation scheme for federal employees, the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (“FECA”) is “exclusive” of “all other liability of the United States” to the employee under tort liability statutes, the plaintiff could not recover under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”) even when his “work-related injury [had] been allegedly negligently treated by an entirely non-work-related federal hospital.

On July 13, 2017, the Merit Systems Protection Board, currently without a quorum and consisting of only one member (Vice Chairman Mark Robbins) extended a stay of a Department of Veterans Affairs physician’s removal after the request was made by the Office of Special Counsel.

After the Merit Systems Protection Board found that a retired federal employee failed to prove that the recovery of overpaid benefits from the Federal Employee Retirement System (“FERS”) would be against equity and good conscience, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the MSPB’s decision, finding that the Administrative Judge’s analysis (which the full Board accepted) was not supported by substantial evidence, was erroneous, and that recovery of the overpayment was unconscionable given the “inexplicable” three-year delay by OPM to finalize the retiree’s benefits, and the additional four-year delay between the retiree’s request for reconsideration and OPM’s decision.

A retired Air Force Veteran’s divorce decree awarded his ex-wife 50 percent of the veteran’s future Air Force retirement pay, but thirteen years after the divorce, the veteran was found partially disabled due to an earlier service-related injury, and elected to give up an equal amount ($250 monthly) of retirement pay in order to receive disability pay – thereby reducing the value of his ex-wife’s 50 percent share by 50 percent of $250.

Customers brought separate actions against Anthem, a health insurance company, after the company’s computer systems were compromised by a cyberattack.

On Thursday, February 16, 2017, Representatives Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Don Beyer (D-VA) released guidance for federal employees who may want to break the Trump administration’s “blackout” on federal agency communications with the press.

After the Air Force appealed a Federal Labor Relations Authority decision and order to bargain collectively with Air Force civilian employees over access to on-base commissaries and exchanges, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit granted the Air Force’s petition and vacated FLRA’s order.

On January 25, 2017, the United States Merit Systems Protection Board issued a document answering some “frequently asked questions” regarding the lack of Board “quorum,” or minimum number of members of the Board’s assembly.

After failing a pulmonary function test – a requirement imposed to maintain medical clearance – a Tennessee Valley Authority employee was discharged by the agency. After he brought a disability discrimination claim to district court under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, the agency moved for summary judgment, arguing that the court lacked jurisdiction under Title VII’s “national-security exemption” and the “Egan doctrine.”

On January 3, 2017, the United States House of Representatives passed a House Resolution, adopting rules for the 115th Congress.

The Merit Systems Protection Board granted the petition for review of a former employee overpaid by $84,546.02, allowing the employee a major adjustment in his monthly repayment, and applying new language from the Office of Personnel Management on the nature of the employee’s ongoing debt.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the reviewing court of the Merit Systems Protection Board, reversed a Board decision denying relief for a personnel action taken by the Department of Justice, finding that the Board’s decision was not supported by substantial evidence.

On December 5, 2016, the Merit Systems Protection Board released a new report, entitled “Adverse Actions: A Compilation of Articles.”

The Merit Systems Protection Board appeal of a GS-13 Physical Security Specialist with the United States Navy was dismissed with prejudice after the MSPB found that the employee repeatedly failed to file a “perfected petition.”