Justia U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Muller, an employee of the U.S. Government Printing Office, is a union member. The union and GPO are signatories to a multi-party Master Labor Management Agreement, which creates a negotiated grievance procedure for GPO employees to contest adverse employment actions as an alternative to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board. Muller was reassigned within the GPO, resulting in demotion to a lower grade and a reduction in pay. Muller challenged his reassignment through the negotiated procedure. An arbitrator dismissed the grievance as “not arbitrable,” because a four-month deadline for holding a hearing, required by the agreement, had passed. The Federal Circuit reversed; the contractual provision does not require dismissal of the grievance in the event of noncompliance with the four-month deadline. The deadline is merely a nonbinding housekeeping rule to encourage timely arbitration, one that is addressed to the arbitrator as well as the parties. There is no past practice requiring dismissal under the circumstances of this case. View "Muller v. Gov't Printing Office" on Justia Law

International Boundary and Water Commissioner Ruth hired McCarthy as an attorney in 2009. Within months, McCarthy had prepared four legal memoranda challenging Commission activities as “gross mismanagement,” contrary to existing law, and characterizing certain officers as lacking “core competencies.” McCarthy submitted a report: “Disclosures of Alleged Fraud, Waste and Abuse” to the Office of Inspector General (OIG), and other federal agencies and informed Ruth of his reports. Ruth terminated McCarthy’s employment, citing McCarthy’s failure to support the executive staff in a constructive manner. McCarthy filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), alleging whistleblower retaliation, citing his report to OIG, but not the legal memoranda, as protected activity. Existing precedent held that reports made in the course of an employee’s normal duties and reports made to a supervisor about a supervisor’s conduct were not protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act, 103 Stat. 16. The administrative judge found no retaliation. The Merit Systems Protection Board and Federal Circuit affirmed in 2012. While McCarthy’s petition was pending, Congress enacted the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012, 126 Stat. 1465-76, under which McCarthy’s legal memoranda could be protected disclosures. The Act can be applied retroactively to pending cases. McCarthy did not raise the change in law while his petition for rehearing was pending. The Federal Circuit affirmed MSPB’s refusal to reopen his case. McCarthy has not exhausted OSC remedies with respect to the memoranda, rendering the MSPB without jurisdiction. View "McCarthy v. Merit Sys. Protection Bd." on Justia Law

Reddick was employed as an FDIC “Investigation Specialist” by an initial two-year term appointment, set to expire in September 2012. In April 2012, the FDIC offered him an extension of the initial term for an additional two years. The offer stated that the “extended employment” would be “effective [September], 2012” and that the “extended appointment is subject to the conditions of employment [included in the initial appointment offer] and subject to your continued successful performance.” Reddick accepted the offer days after receipt. The FDIC revoked the extension offer in August 2012. Reddick filed a grievance on the theory that the revocation of the offer was an adverse action under 5 U.S.C. 7512 and that he was entitled to procedural protections that the FDIC did not provide him. The matter was referred to arbitration under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. The arbitrator found the extension offer to be conditioned on Reddick’s “satisfactory work performance” and that the revocation was supported by sufficient justification. The Federal Circuit dismissed an appeal. The extension offer was still revocable by the FDIC even after acceptance by Reddick; it never matured into an effective extension, so Reddick was not “removed.” View "Reddick v. Fed. Deposit Ins. Corp." on Justia Law

Dean, a preference-eligible veteran, applied for a position as a “Recent Graduate” Wage and Hour Specialist within the Department of Labor. The announcement stated that the position “is a part of the Pathways Employment Program,” open only to “[e]ligible recent graduates from qualifying educational institutions” and separately identified job qualifications (which did not include a minimum educational requirement) and program eligibility, which required a “degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution within the previous two years,” or previous six years for certain veterans; 34 veterans met the requirements. Dean was not considered because he had not graduated within the timeframe. Dean filed an unsuccessful Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA) appeal. The Board cited 5 U.S.C. 3302(1), authorizing the President to except positions from the competitive service, and 5 U.S.C. 3308, limiting OPM’s ability to include minimum educational requirements for positions in the competitive service that are subject to examination. The Federal Circuit affirmed, finding that that the Board had jurisdiction under section 3330a of the VEOA because sections 3302(1) and 3308 are statutes relating to veterans’ preference, and that Dean’s veterans’ preference rights under those sections were not violated. View "Dean v. Dep't of Labor" on Justia Law

The National Federation of Federal Employees Local 1442 filed a group grievance on behalf of 138 NFFE bargaining unit employees at Letterkenny Army Depot (LEAD); Local 2109 filed two grievances on behalf of all of bargaining unit employees at Watervliet Arsenal (WVA). In both grievances, the Union challenged the furloughing of bargaining unit employees for six discontinuous days between July and September in Fiscal Year 2013. The furloughs were the result of an automatic process of federal agency spending reductions called “sequestration.” Arbitrator Kaplan ruled that the furloughs of the employees at LEAD were in accordance with law. Months later, Arbitrator Gross ruled that the furloughs of WVA security employees were not in accordance with law, but that the furloughs of non-security bargaining unit employees at WVA were in accordance with law. The Federal Circuit upheld both decisions. Arbitrators Kaplan and Gross had substantial evidence before them demonstrating that the furlough decisions were reasonable management solutions to the financial restrictions placed on DOD by the sequester, thus promoting the efficiency of the service. View "Nat'l Fed'n of Fed. Employees v. Dep't of the Army" on Justia Law

In 1997 Seagate recruited Dr. Shukh, a native of Belarus, to move to the U.S. Shukh executed Seagate’s standard Employment Agreement, assigning to Seagate all “right, title, and interest in and to any inventions” made while at Seagate. Seagate prohibited employees from filing patent applications for their inventions. During his employment, Shukh was named as an inventor on 17 patents. Shukh’s time at Seagate was tumultuous. His performance evaluations indicated that he did not work well with others due to his confrontational style. In 2009, Seagate terminated Shukh and 178 others. Shukh has not yet secured employment and claims that he was told that he would never find employment at certain companies with his reputation. Shukh alleges that Seagate wrongfully omitted him as an inventor from several patents relating to semiconductor technologies; that Seagate discriminated against and terminated him based national origin and in retaliation for complaining about discrimination. He sought correction of inventorship of the disputed patents under 35 U.S.C. 256. The district court held that Shukh had no interest in the patents based on the assignment; dismissed claims for rescission of his Employment Agreement, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and unjust enrichment; and rejected claims of reputational harm, retaliation, fraud, and discrimination on summary judgment. The Federal Circuit vacated with respect to correction of inventorship, but otherwise affirmed. There is a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether Shukh’s negative reputation is traceable to Seagate’s omission of Shukh as an inventor from disputed patents. View "Shukh v. Seagate Tech., LLC" on Justia Law

The Department of the Navy furloughed Einboden, a civilian employee for six days in 2013 as part of budget cuts made pursuant to sequestration legislation, 2 U.S.C. 901a. Einboden argued that his position was not subject to the cuts because money saved by the furlough could have been transferred from the Navy working capital fund to other activities with appropriate notice to the congressional defense committees. An AJ and the Merit Systems Protection Board upheld the decision, finding that the furlough was a “reasonable management solution to the financial issues facing the agency,” that notice of proposed furlough was not procedurally deficient, and that “although [Einboden’s work group] may have had adequate funding to avoid a furlough . . . , it was reasonable for DOD to consider its budget holistically, rather than isolating the situation of each individual Navy.” The Federal Circuit affirmed, rejecting Einboden’s contention that the Navy should be required to show actual re-programming of the funds saved by his furlough. View "Einboden v. Dep't of the Navy" on Justia Law

In 2008 Miller was appointed by the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, as Park Superintendent, GS-13, for Sitka National Historical Park (SNHP). In 2010, Miller was removed from her position after she refused a management-directed reassignment to a different position at the same grade and pay in Anchorage, Alaska. The Merit Systems Protection Board sustained the removal action, but later vacated the Initial Decision, reversed Miller’s removal, and ordered Miller’s reinstatement to her position as Park Superintendent. The Office of Personnel Management sought review. The Federal Circuit reversed. Substantial evidence supported the Initial Decision that the agency established, by a preponderance of the evidence, that it had legitimate management reasons for Miller’s reassignment; and that Miller failed to rebut the agency’s prima facie case. View "Cobert v. Miller" on Justia Law

Shapiro began working for the Social Security Administration as an administrative law judge in 1997. As early as 1998, the Agency informed Shapiro that his performance was lacking. Shapiro’s poor performance continued and, in early 2000, “a tremendous backlog” of cases in his docket became apparent. The Agency began to take an active role in assisting Shapiro, including reviewing cases, drafting decisions, and returning them for signature. Shapiro’s performance, however, did not improve. The Agency continued to provide assistance and issue warnings until Shapiro’s supervisor concluded that “despite the extraordinary efforts to assist him, to mentor him, [and] to train him,” Shapiro could not manage his docket to meet expectations. The Agency filed a complaint under 5 U.S.C. 7521, with the Merit System Protection Board seeking a finding of good cause to remove Shapiro based on “unacceptable performance” and “neglect of duty.” The Federal Circuit affirmed the finding of good cause, noting that Shapiro’s production was dramatically lower than similarly situated ALJs, and that this failure to manage his caseload constituted good cause for removal. View "Shapiro v. Soc. Sec. Admin." on Justia Law

Konig’s SRI Employment Agreement, stated: I agree ….To promptly disclose… all discoveries, improvements, and inventions, including software … during … my employment, and … to effect transfer of ownership … to SRI . . . . I understand that termination of this employment shall not release me from my obligations. While employed by SRI, Konig started generating documents relating to a personalized information services idea called “Personal Web” and formed a company, Utopy. Konig left SRI and filed a provisional patent application in 1999; the 040 patent issued in 2005. In 2001, Konig asked an SRI scientist to test the Utopy products. The 040 patent was eventually assigned to PUM. Konig filed another patent application in 2008. PUM was the assignee; the 276 patent issued in 2010. In 2009, PUM sued Google, asserting infringement. PUM provided interrogatory responses that asserted that the conception of the inventions was while Konig was still at SRI. Google had acquired “any rights” that SRI had and counterclaimed breach of contract. The court stated that no reasonable juror could have found that the injury was “inherently unknowable,” applied the three-year limitations period for contracts claims, and granted PUM judgment on the counterclaim. The court also entered judgment of invalidity and noninfringement. The Federal Circuit affirmed, noting that the claim construction had no effect on the outcome and declining to issue an advisory opinion. View "Personalized User Model, LLP v. Google, Inc." on Justia Law