Initial Appeal Dismissals Increase at MSPB Despite Drop in Case Load, Report Reveals

Merit Systems Protection Board judges are increasingly dismissing federal employees’ initial appeals, the former board chairman told Bloomberg BNA May 1.

Neil McPhie, now director of legal services and managing partner at Tully Rinckey PLLC in Washington and Arlington, Va., said getting an appeal dismissed at the initial stages is particularly frustrating for employees who believe they have a good case on the merits.

Tully Rinckey filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the board’s fiscal year 2013 data and discovered that MSPB judges dismissed 62 percent of the 5,767 cases decided that year. According to the law firm’s ...