Posted on March 27, 2012 by AdminUN

WATERBOARDING SELECTION OFFICIALS II

Not long ago we posted an article about how frustrating it is when selecting officials will not give a best qualified candidate a substantive reason why he/she was passed over for promotion, especially when someone with a lower promotion score was selected. Although we did not advocate waterboarding the answer out of the selecting official, we expressed our understanding of those who dream about doing precisely that when told such things as he was “not sufficiently suited” for the job or that he “did not interview well.” In our original post we cited to three federal court decisions employees could cite as precedent for demanding a “clear and reasonably specific factual basis” for the decision. Now we have more cases to work with. Continue reading →

Posted in EEO/Discrimination, Promotion/Hiring | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Posted on March 19, 2012 by AdminUN

FUBAR: MSPB’S HALF-PREGNANT EMPLOYEE

There is a reason why this is the first article you have ever read about a half-pregnant employee. It is the same reason you have not come across stories about the half-dead. Pregnancy and death are absolutes; you either are or you are not. We would have said the same about truth; something is either true or false. However, MSPB now recognizes “truth with elements of deception.”   It is not quite a falsification, but it can get an employee fired. Continue reading →

Posted in Discipline/Adverse Action, FUBAR, MSPB | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Posted on March 19, 2012 by AdminUN

$300,000 FOR A DENIED REASSIGNMENT

Employees almost never have the right to demand a reassignment to a different supervisor, job or location.  But if the employee has a disabling condition for which a reassignment would be a reasonable accommodation, the employee may have a legally enforceable right to the reassignment.  Here’s how. Continue reading →

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Posted on March 19, 2012 by AdminUN

ZIP IT! – WHEN MANAGERS VIOLATE YOUR PRIVACY       

This is not the first time we have written about managers who either can’t keep their mouth shut or their documents clean.  The newest example is the Chief of Dental Services who just cost a VA hospital over $8,500 by ignoring an employee’s right to medical privacy. Continue reading →

Posted in Disability, Medical Issues, Privacy, Remedies | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Posted on March 16, 2012 by AdminUN

THREE BENCHMARK CONTRACTS JUST COMPLETED

AFGE, NTEU, and NATCA all announced settlements for their major contracts in the last ten days.  AFGE has wrapped up the core of the SSA contract; NTEU has concluded mid-term reopener revisions to its IRS contract, and NATCA just revealed that it has a deal with FAA.  This is a big deal.  Each is considered to be among those dozen or so contracts that set the pace for the rest of the federal sector.  FEDSMILL.com will post them as soon as we get our hands on them and share details as they start to dribble out.

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Posted on March 15, 2012 by AdminUN

SSA’s $8,987 ONE-PERSON SPACE HEATER

How did the Social Security Administration turn the cost of a hundred-dollar personal space heater for one employee into something nearly 90 times as expensive? Continue reading →

Posted in EEO/Disabilities, EEO/Remedies | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Posted on March 15, 2012 by AdminUN

FLRA FUBAR: THE PAST PRACTICE “ACQUIESCENCE” MESS

The FLRA has done a lot of good, and it has had moments where it neither helped nor harmed.  But there also have been times when it has Fouled Up Beyond All Reason (FUBAR).  Its concept of what makes something a past practice is one of its more troubling mistakes for practitioners. Continue reading →

Posted in Bargaining Law, FLRA, FUBAR | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Posted on March 13, 2012 by AdminUN

WHEN UNIONS LIBEL MANAGEMENT

More than a few contracts state that the union may not libel (or slander) any manager when using the agency’s internal communications systems.  But what can management do if the union does cross the line.  An old FLRA case offers us a glimpse. Continue reading →

Posted in Arbitration, Bargaining, Membership Building | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Posted on March 12, 2012 by AdminUN

OCTOMOM AND THE “COVERED-BY” BARGAINING DEFENSE

Much of science is devoted to finding out where things came from, e.g., the universe, global warming, the Kardashians, etc.  But there is no need to search very far for the origin of the “covered-by” doctrine. Thank Judge Harry Edwards of the U.S. Circuit Court in Washington, D.C.  The covered-by formula is his signature potion for poisoning the more workable contract waiver theory. Continue reading →

Posted in Bargaining Law, Covered-by, FLRA, ULPs | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Posted on March 11, 2012 by AdminUN

SEXUAL HARASSMENT LEADS TO $168 MILLION JUDGMENT

YIKES! We all know what can happen when a dispute goes to a jury, but when the jury in this case gave the employee $168 million in damages for the harassment she suffered, it set what many lawyers are calling a record. Because most federal employees have the same right to put their case before a jury like she did, we thought you might want to know what caused the jury to do this. Maybe a member of your local has a similar case. Continue reading →

Posted in EEO/Discrimination | Tagged , | Leave a comment