Lisa M. Rainey v. Department of Health and Human Services
Background
- Lisa M. Rainey was appointed to a career-conditional GP-15 Medical Officer position effective April 3, 2016, subject to a 1-year trial period.
- On April 11, 2016, after about one week on the job, Rainey submitted a document the agency treated as a resignation and later appealed claiming her departure was an involuntary resignation (termination).
- The administrative judge issued a show-cause order because the agency’s file indicated a resignation, and directed Rainey to demonstrate Board jurisdiction by alleging facts supporting involuntariness.
- Rainey alleged threats (including being reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank), abusive verbal conduct, and later claimed the Medical Director tried to force her to sign a resignation letter; however, she provided few factual details and raised some assertions for the first time on petition for review.
- The administrative judge dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction, finding Rainey failed to make a nonfrivolous allegation that her resignation was involuntary; the Board denied review and affirmed.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether the Board has jurisdiction because the resignation was involuntary (coercion/duress) | Rainey: Agency threatened to report her to NPDB, engaged in abusive verbal badgering and threats, and made working conditions intolerable | Agency: Rainey resigned voluntarily; record shows no pending action, no misleading information, and she initiated resignation | Held: No jurisdiction — Rainey failed to make nonfrivolous factual allegations showing duress or that conditions would compel a reasonable person to resign |
| Whether Rainey actually resigned or merely withdrew her application | Rainey: Characterized her action as "withdrawing application" | Agency: She had been appointed and on duty, so she resigned | Held: She resigned; her appointment-on-duty status precluded treating the action as an application withdrawal |
| Admissibility/consideration of alleged coerced signing of a resignation letter raised on review | Rainey: For the first time on review, asserted Medical Director tried to force her to sign a resignation letter | Agency: Issue was not raised below despite show-cause notice; no new evidence shown | Held: Not considered — claim raised first on review and not shown to be based on new, material evidence unavailable earlier |
| Procedural complaint about unscheduled telephonic status conference | Rainey: Argued she was unprepared and found the call adversarial | Agency: Procedural matter; no basis to overturn dismissal | Held: Procedural objection does not justify setting aside initial decision |
Key Cases Cited
- Miller v. Department of Homeland Security, 111 M.S.P.R. 325 (2009) (employee-initiated actions are presumed voluntary; involuntariness requires proof of duress or intolerable working conditions)
- Markon v. Department of State, 71 M.S.P.R. 574 (1996) (reasonable-person objective test for constructive involuntary resignation; discrimination evidence considered only as it bears on coercion)
- Schultz v. United States Navy, 810 F.2d 1133 (1987) (decision between unpleasant alternatives does not render resignation involuntary)
- Loredo v. Department of the Treasury, 118 M.S.P.R. 686 (2012) (same principle regarding voluntariness when employee faces unpleasant alternatives)
- Williams v. Department of Agriculture, 106 M.S.P.R. 677 (2007) (definition of nonfrivolous allegation for Board jurisdiction)