On June 25, 2018, President Trump signed into law the Whistleblower Protection Coordination Act (“WPCA”), which permanently reauthorized a “Whistleblower Protection Coordinator” at each federal agency’s respective Office of Inspector General.

In two companion cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, United States Postal Service employees challenged MSPB dismissals, for lack of jurisdiction, of their removal appeals.

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).

After hearing argument en banc late last year to “clarify the law,” the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision on April 9, 2018, holding that prior salary alone or in combination with other factors cannot justify wage differential under the Equal Pay Act.

After the Department of the Navy drug-tested him following a crane accident, a Rigger Supervisor with the Department of the Navy argued that his subsequent removal for illegal drug use violated due process because the Agency did not follow its own regulation and provide him advance written notice of the purpose of the drug test.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals adopted the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals’ holdings with regard to the test of whether an agency has carried its burden to prove whether the agency would have taken the same personnel action against an employee irrespective of the employee’s protected disclosures, and with regard to whether an employee may be disciplined for the manner in which he or she communicates a protected disclosure.

A Special Agent at the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms filed an Individual Right of Action appeal with the Merit Systems Protection Board, alleging that his supervisors retaliated against him after he disclosed his suspicion that another agent had improperly shot at a fleeing suspect, provided an inaccurate report of the shooting incident, and had committed perjury during the subsequent criminal trial.

On January 19, 2018, the Merit Systems Protection Board issued its FY 2017 Annual Report, which highlighted the Board’s lack of quorum, the most “critical issue” during the past year.

While the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (“WPEA”) protects whistleblowers from retaliation for disclosing a violation of law, rule, or regulation, the statute does not define those terms. In its first whistleblower retaliation case since Congress allowed whistleblower appellants from Board decisions to file in any U.S. Court of Appeals for a five-year trial period, the Fourth Circuit grappled with the definition of “rule” and its applicability to non-mandatory provisions.

A firefighter at the Department of the Navy petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit for review after the Merit Systems Protection Board ordered the Agency to determine if and when the employee would have been removed had he not retired before settling on what relief to grant him in the successful appeal of his involuntary retirement.

On November 15, 2017, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued its annual Performance and Accountability Report, accompanied by a press release that touted the Agency’s improved management of case inventory, and the $86 million in monetary relief for federal employees and applicants that was secured through the EEOC.

On October 6, 2017, two petitions for writs of certiorari were filed with the United States Supreme Court, asking the Court to determine whether the time period for a federal employee to appeal a final order of the Merit Systems Protection Board to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is purely jurisdictional, and therefore cannot be “equitably tolled” under any circumstances.

On October 26, 2017, the Dr. Chris Kirkpatrick Whistleblower Protection Act (“the Act”) of 2017, was enacted. Dr. Kirkpatrick, a clinical psychologist at a VA Medical Center who complained that his patients were often too affected by medication to treat properly, committed suicide in 2015 after he was removed during his probationary period.

On October 26, 2017, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, after granting the Department of Justice’s petition for rehearing en banc, vacated its prior decision, and found that preference-eligible FBI employees appealing an adverse action to the Merit Systems Protection Board may not raise an affirmative defense of whistleblower reprisal, nor may they file an individual right of action (“IRA”) appeal to bring whistleblower claims to the Board.