Category Archives: Discipline/Adverse Action

REINSTATEMENT & FRONT PAY AFTER REMOVAL FOR 840 HOURS OF AWOL/LWOP  Let’s count the mistakes the FBI made in terminating this employee (Emmitt) who had asked for a disability-related reasonable accommodation. First, the employee’s supervisor showed up at his house … Continue reading

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WHAT IS ADEQUATE NOTICE OF CRIMINAL IMMUNITY? The U. S Constitution permits a federal employees not to answer official questions put to them in any investigation proceeding, civil or criminal, formal or informal, when the answers might incriminate them in … Continue reading

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GOOD NEWS ABOUT DOUGLAS FACTORS 6 & 10 Homeland Security fired a Deportation Officer because he traveled home from an assignment in Chile a day earlier than scheduled and spent the day with his family.  DHS also cited the fact … Continue reading

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EEOC COMING AFTER OVERLY BROAD SEVERANCE AGREEMENTS The folks over at Constangy, Brooks, et al. law firm put out a very helpful blog that we follow religiously.  If you like to use civil rights laws to challenge undesirable management practices, … Continue reading

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FEDERAL COURT HIGHLIGHTS ANOTHER WAY UNIONS CAN OVERTURN EMPLOYEE TERMINATIONS An arbitrator blundered, a federal court spotted his blunder, and unions should make sure arbitrators give their members the full benefits of the law. In this case, an agency terminated … Continue reading

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THE ACTRESS JOAN CRAWFORD ON PROGRESSIVE DISCIPLINE The next time some top manager proposes termination rather than uses progressive discipline on an employee think about showing the oral reply official the wire hanger scene from Joan Crawford’s Mommy Dearest film. … Continue reading

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THE AGONY OF TERMINATION, NEPO BABIES AND PAYING IT FORWARD During my career as a union rep, I defended more than a handful of feds who were terminated by their agency. While I could talk about them, I want to … Continue reading

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WHEN UNION PRESIDENTS SEND GIFTS TO AGENCIES Remember the old movie line, “Every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings?” Well, it came to mind this morning as I thought about those times when union presidents get a … Continue reading

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HOW TO FIGHT AN AWOL DISCIPLINARY ACTION The “NY Times” recently posted a story about an employee fired for being late 47 times over 10 months. It highlights one way a union can defend a member disciplined for AWOL no … Continue reading

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FDIC MANAGERS COULD TEACH UNION LEADERS SOMETHING Imagine a team of agency IT people spent years and over $1,000,000. developing software to solve a big agency problem no private vender could and that it worked like a charm. But one … Continue reading

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