John S. Edwards v. Department of Labor
Docket No. DC-1221-16-0227-W-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD
May 5, 2022
2022 MSPB 9
Raymond A. Limon, Vice Chair; Tristan L. Leavitt, Member
Peter Broida, Esquire, Arlington, Virginia, for the appellant. Elizabeth L. Beason, Esquire and Rolando Valdez, Esquire, Washington, D.C., for the agency.
¶1 The appellant has filed a petition for review of an initial decision that dismissed his individual right of action (IRA) appeal for lack of jurisdiction. For the reasons set forth below, we DENY the petition for review and DISMISS the appeal for lack of jurisdiction, finding that the appellant did not make a protected disclosure under
¶2 The essential facts, as set forth in the initial decision and not contested on review, are that the appellant was a GS-15 Deputy Director of the agency‘s Employment and Training Administration, Office of Information Systems and Technology, when he verbally “disclosed and protested” to his supervisors their alleged failure to provide opportunities and assignments to African American employees because of their race. Initial Appeal File (IAF), Tab 14, Initial Decision (ID) at 1-2; IAF, Tab 5 at 5. He also disclosed to his supervisors their alleged discrimination when they refused to promote one of the appellant‘s subordinates to a vacant supervisory position for which he had competed, allegedly because of the subordinate‘s race (African American). ID at 2; IAF, Tab 5 at 6. At about the same time, the appellant filed complaints of systemic race discrimination against African American employees under the agency‘s Harassing Conduct Policy and with the agency‘s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Office. ID at 2; IAF, Tab 5 at 5-6. Within a few months after these actions, the agency reassigned the appellant to a nonsupervisory GS-15 position and posted his former position for recruitment. ID at 2; IAF, Tab 5 at 6, Tab 11 at 5.
¶3 The appellant filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) alleging that his reassignment was in reprisal for his disclosures. IAF, Tab 1 at 20-49. After OSC closed its investigation, the appellant filed a timely IRA appeal alleging, among other things, that the Board had jurisdiction over his appeal pursuant to
¶4 After acknowledging receipt of the appeal, IAF, Tab 2, the administrative judge issued an order noting that there was a question regarding whether the Board had jurisdiction over the appeal, setting forth the jurisdictional burdens of proof, and ordering the appellant to respond. IAF, Tab 3. In response, the appellant argued that his statements and complaints regarding race discrimination
¶5 In her initial decision, the administrative judge found that the appellant exhausted his remedies before OSC. ID at 6. She then found that the appellant failed to make a nonfrivolous allegation that his statements or complaints were protected under either
¶6 The administrative judge also found that the appellant‘s support for African American employees did not constitute the giving of lawful assistance in their exercising any right regarding any appeal, complaint, or grievance and, therefore, the appellant failed to make a nonfrivolous allegation that his actions were protected under
¶7 In his petition for review, the appellant argues that the administrative judge erred in failing to follow the precedent set forth in Armstrong, 107 M.S.P.R. 375, and Kinan v. Department of Defense, 87 M.S.P.R. 561 (2001). Petition for Review (PFR) File, Tab 1 at 12-13. The appellant also argues that under the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA), Pub. L. No. 112-199, 126 Stat. 1465 (2012), his disclosures of violations of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and his support for his colleagues are protected. PFR File, Tab 1 at 15-20. The agency has responded in opposition to the petition for review. PFR File, Tab 5.
ANALYSIS
¶8 The Board has jurisdiction over an IRA appeal if the appellant exhausts his administrative remedies before OSC and makes nonfrivolous allegations that: (1) he made a disclosure described under
¶9 Thus, at issue in this appeal is whether the appellant made a nonfrivolous allegation that his disclosures and activity were protected under sections 2302(b)(8), 2302(b)(9)(A), and/or 2302(b)(9)(B). As explained below, while the appellant appears to have been admirably motivated in seeking to remedy perceived discrimination in his agency, we find that he failed to meet his jurisdictional burden, and that the proper forum for his allegation of retaliation for filing an EEO complaint is with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
(1) Board and circuit courts’ precedent have generally excluded EEO reprisal from consideration under
¶10 Board precedent has long held that reprisal for filing an EEO complaint is a matter relating solely to discrimination and is not protected by
¶11 In Von Kelsch v. Department of Labor, 59 M.S.P.R. 503, 505-06 (1993), overruled on other grounds by Thomas v. Department of the Treasury, 77 M.S.P.R. 224, 236 n.9 (1998), overruled by Ganski v. Department of the Interior, 86 M.S.P.R. 32 (2000), the employee filed a claim for Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA) benefits in which she alleged the purported use of sexually offensive language directed at her as the cause of her injury and then filed an IRA appeal asserting reprisal for whistleblowing and
¶12 While the Board found that it did not lack jurisdiction to hear and decide an IRA appeal simply because the disclosure was made in a FECA claim, the nature of Ms. Von Kelsch‘s disclosure of a purported title VII violation divested the Board of jurisdiction. Id. at 508-09. The Board held that the WPA‘s legislative history and structure indicate Congress’ intent not to extend IRA appeal protection under section 2302(b)(8) for employees who allege that their agencies retaliated against them after they challenged practices made unlawful by title VII. Von Kelsch, 59 M.S.P.R. at 509. The Board further stated that, in creating an IRA appeal right under section 2302(b)(8), Congress expressed its intent to benefit those employees whose “only route of appeal [under the then-existing statute] is the OSC.” Von Kelsch, 59 M.S.P.R. at 509 (citing S. Rep. No. 100-413 at 32 (1988)) (brackets in original).
¶13 Further, in Redschlag v. Department of the Army, 89 M.S.P.R. 589, ¶ 84 (2001), the Board held that it would not consider the appellant‘s purported disclosures that involved alleged discrimination or reprisal for engaging in activities protected by title VII. The Board found that, even if the disclosures were made outside of the grievance or EEO processes, such disclosures did not constitute protected whistleblower activity under
¶14 The Board‘s decisions are consistent with the decisions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit). In Spruill v. Merit Systems Protection Board, 978 F.2d 679, 680-81 (Fed. Cir. 1992), the employee filed an IRA appeal asserting that a 3-day suspension was taken in reprisal for his having filed a discrimination complaint with the EEOC. Like the Board, the court looked to the WPA‘s legislative history to support its finding that the EEO process was the appropriate forum for an employee alleging reprisal for filing a discrimination complaint. Id. at 690-92. The court observed that the division adopted by Congress, among other things, “avoids potentially conflicting procedures or outcomes,” and “acknowledges the EEOC role as an expert agency in discrimination matters.” Id. at 692. In Serrao v. Merit Systems Protection Board, 95 F.3d 1569, 1575 (Fed. Cir. 1996), the court restated the holding of its previous decision in Spruill that “the filing of a complaint with the [EEOC], in which an employee alleged discriminatory treatment by an agency in violation of title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964, did not constitute a whistleblowing disclosure within the meaning of section 2302(b)(8), but instead, was a nonwhistleblowing disclosure under section 2302(b)(9)(A)” (citing Spruill, 978 F.2d at 692). Most recently, in Young v. Merit Systems Protection Board, 961 F.3d 1323, 1327-28 (Fed. Cir. 2020), the court reiterated that discrimination claims may not be raised in an IRA appeal, because IRA appeals are limited to alleged violations of whistleblower protection statutes.
¶16 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky which determined that an employee‘s claims of sexual harassment, race discrimination, and associated retaliation were not appropriately categorized as whistleblower claims, holding that “when dealing with issues of employment discrimination, the WPA/WPEA is displaced and preempted by [t]itle VII.” Carrethers v. Esper, No. 3:16-CV-62-CRS, 2019 WL 2330894, *1, 5 (W.D. Ky. May 31, 2019), aff‘d sub nom. Carrethers v. McCarthy, 817 F. App‘x 88 (6th Cir. 2020).6 Similarly, in a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, an employee attempted to contest adverse actions based on his religion and national origin within the context of a WPA claim. The court held that “for [F]ederal employees claiming discrimination on the basis of religion and national origin (as well as reprisal for complaining about discrimination), [t]itle VII is the exclusive judicial remedy.” Malekpour v. Chao, 682 F. App‘x 471, 475-76 (7th Cir. 2017). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit also has agreed with the “Federal Circuit‘s longstanding precedent, which Congress has been aware of but has never overturned,” that “employees who specifically complain about
¶17 In addition to finding that allegations of discrimination in violation of title VII cannot be brought under the whistleblower protection statutes, courts have also found that the reverse is true; allegations of reprisal for whistleblowing cannot be brought under title VII. See Davis v. James, 597 F. App‘x 983, 987 (10th Cir. 2015) (finding that the plaintiff failed to establish that she opposed conduct prohibited by title VII because she alleged in her EEO complaint that she was actually retaliated against for whistleblowing about timecard fraud); see also Jamil v. Department of Defense, 910 F.2d 1203, 1207 (4th Cir. 1990) (explaining that title VII is not a general “bad acts” statute, and “only addresses discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, and national origin, not discrimination for whistleblowing“). Indeed, courts have long adopted the proposition that claims of discrimination in Federal employment are to be addressed solely through title VII. See Brown v. General Services Administration, 425 U.S. 820, 835 (1976) (stating that title VII “provides the exclusive judicial remedy for claims of discrimination in [F]ederal employment“); see also Pretlow v. Garrison, 420 F. App‘x 798, 801 (10th Cir. 2011) (explaining that “[i]nsofar as [a Federal employee] complains of discrimination and associated retaliatory conduct, his exclusive remedy is provided by [t]itle VII“); Mlynczak v. Bodman, 442 F.3d 1050, 1057 (7th Cir. 2006) (referring to title VII
(2) The Board‘s decisions in Armstrong and Kinan are overruled.
¶18 In Armstrong, 107 M.S.P.R. 375, ¶ 17, the case referenced by the appellant in his petition for review, the employee, among other things, disclosed to an Office of Inspector General investigator that none of the African American employees in the office had been afforded the opportunity to work on an assignment that was often an avenue to promotion. Thus, his disclosure related to purported violations of title VII. The Board agreed with the administrative judge that Mr. Armstrong‘s disclosure evidenced a violation of law, rule, or regulation or an abuse of authority. Id. The decision failed to discuss or even acknowledge the Board and court precedent set forth above regarding the scope of the coverage of
¶19 In Kinan, 87 M.S.P.R. 561, ¶¶ 3-7, which the appellant also cited in his petition for review, the employee alleged that his employing agency first detailed and then reassigned him in reprisal for his disclosures that agency officials refused to hire African Americans, failed to take corrective action in a sexual harassment case, and retaliated against him for opposing his supervisor‘s discriminatory practices. The Board agreed with the administrative judge that corrective action was not warranted in the Board appeal because the agency established by clear and convincing evidence that it would have taken the same personnel action absent the protected disclosures, but the Board specifically addressed whether Mr. Kinan‘s disclosures were protected and whether he established that one or more of the disclosures was a contributing factor to the
¶20 We cannot reconcile the decisions in Armstrong and Kinan with the weight and reasoning of the Board and court precedent discussed above. Accordingly, we overrule Armstrong and Kinan to the extent that they found that alleged reprisal for opposition to practices made unlawful by title VII constitutes a protected disclosure under section 2302(b)(8).
(3) The WPEA does not extend the coverage of the whistleblower protection statutes to title VII-related matters.
¶21 The appellant argues on review that, under the WPEA, the scope of the whistleblower protection statutes was expanded to include allegations of wrongdoing that fall within the purview of title VII. PFR File, Tab 1 at 15-20. To bolster this argument, the appellant cites the WPEA‘s legislative history,
¶22 We agree that Congress intended the coverage of the whistleblower protection statutes to be broad. Nevertheless, the coverage is not boundless. Nothing in the statute or legislative history of the WPEA addresses Williams, Spruill, or their progeny. Thus, despite expanding the scope of whistleblower protection in other ways, nothing suggests that the WPEA altered the long-standing administrative and judicial interpretation that title VII-related claims are excluded from protection under the whistleblower protection statutes. Moreover, following the enactment of the WPEA, the circuit courts have reaffirmed that this interpretation is still controlling. See Young, 961 F.3d at 1327-28; Coulibaly, 709 F. App‘x at 10; Malekpour, 682 F. App‘x at 475-75.8
¶23 To be clear, we strongly condemn managers taking personnel actions in reprisal for engaging in any protected activity, including alleging violations of title VII. Congress has not left such employees without recourse. Rather, they may seek redress under title VII, which is enforced by the EEOC. Courts have interpreted the anti-retaliation provision of title VII as providing broad protection to those who raise title VII violations. See, e.g., Ray v. Ropes & Gray, LLP, 799 F.3d 99, 107-08 (1st Cir. 2015); Hashimoto v. Dalton, 118 F.3d 671, 680 (9th Cir. 1997); see also Crawford v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County, Tennessee, 555 U.S. 271, 276 (2009).
¶24 Under
¶25 As explained above, the substance of the appellant‘s complaints to the agency‘s EEO Office and under its Harassing Conduct Policy did not concern remedying an alleged violation of section 2302(b)(8). Rather, he was seeking to remedy purported reprisal for matters covered by title VII. Therefore, his complaints to the EEO Office and under the agency‘s Harassing Conduct Policy regarding race discrimination are not within the purview of section 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), and the Board lacks jurisdiction to consider such allegations in the context of this IRA appeal. Mudd, 120 M.S.P.R. 365, ¶ 7; see
The appellant failed to show that the Board has jurisdiction over his IRA appeal under
¶26 The WPEA expanded the scope of
¶27 We are not persuaded by these arguments. The statute provides that the Board has jurisdiction under section 2302(b)(9)(B) only when the individual for whom the appellant is testifying or is otherwise lawfully assisting in exercising “any appeal, complaint, or grievance right granted by any law, rule, or regulation.” Accordingly, the Board has held that neither testifying on behalf of a coworker as part of an administrative investigation, nor filing a motion to dismiss a criminal indictment, were protected under section 2302(b)(9)(B) because these activities were not the exercise of an appeal, complaint, or grievance right by another employee, as they did not constitute initial steps toward taking legal action against the agency for perceived violations of employment rights.9 Graves v. Department of Veterans Affairs, 123 M.S.P.R. 434, ¶ 18 (2016); Linder, 122 M.S.P.R. 14, ¶¶ 7-11.
The amendment to
¶29 Prior to December 12, 2017, the whistleblower protection statutory scheme provided that “cooperating with or disclosing information to the Inspector General of an agency, or the Special Counsel, in accordance with applicable provisions of law,” is protected.
¶30 Here, as noted above, the appellant made purported disclosures to his supervisors, the EEO Office, and under the agency‘s Harassing Conduct Policy. ID at 1-2; IAF, Tab 5 at 5-6. All of the events relevant to this appeal occurred prior to the 2018 NDAA‘s enactment. Accordingly, we need not decide whether the appellant‘s disclosures fall within the coverage of the amended section 2302(b)(9)(C) because, as discussed below, the statutory provision is not retroactive and thus does not apply to this appeal.
¶31 The proper analytical framework for determining whether a new statute should be given retroactive effect was set forth by the Supreme Court in Landgraf v. USI Film Products, 511 U.S. 244, 280 (1994):
When a case implicates a [F]ederal statute enacted after the events in suit, the court‘s first task is to determine whether Congress has expressly prescribed the statute‘s proper reach. If Congress has done so, of course, there is no need to resort to judicial default rules. When, however, the statute contains no such express command, the court must determine whether the new statute would have retroactive effect, i.e., whether it would impair rights a party possessed when he acted, increase a party‘s liability for past conduct, or impose new duties with respect to transactions already completed. If the statute would operate retroactively, our traditional presumption teaches that it does not govern absent clear congressional intent favoring such a result.
¶33 Turning to the second part of the Landgraf test, we find that the 2018 NDAA would increase the agency‘s liability for past conduct. As noted above, when this appeal was filed, it was not a prohibited personnel practice under
¶34 In sum, while we reiterate that the appellant appears to have been admirably motivated in seeking to remedy perceived discrimination in his agency, in this appeal he has failed to meet his burden to make a nonfrivolous allegation that he engaged in activity protected by sections 2302(b)(8), 2302(b)(9)(A), or 2302(b)(9)(B). Therefore, we conclude that the administrative judge properly dismissed this IRA appeal for lack of jurisdiction, and that this complaint more properly belongs before the EEOC under title VII itself.
ORDER
¶35 This is the final decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board in this appeal. Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations, section 1201.113 (
NOTICE OF APPEAL RIGHTS12
You may obtain review of this final decision.
Please read carefully each of the three main possible choices of review below to decide which one applies to your particular case. If you have questions about whether a particular forum is the appropriate one to review your case, you should contact that forum for more information.
(1) Judicial review in general. As a general rule, an appellant seeking judicial review of a final Board order must file a petition for review with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which must be received by the court within 60 calendar days of the date of issuance of this decision.
If you submit a petition for review to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, you must submit your petition to the court at the following address:
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 717 Madison Place, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20439
Additional information about the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is available at the court‘s website, www.cafc.uscourts.gov. Of particular relevance is the court‘s “Guide for Pro Se Petitioners and Appellants,” which is contained within the court‘s Rules of Practice, and Forms 5, 6, 10, and 11.
If you are interested in securing pro bono representation for an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, you may visit our website at
(2) Judicial or EEOC review of cases involving a claim of discrimination. This option applies to you only if you have claimed that you were affected by an action that is appealable to the Board and that such action was based, in whole or in part, on unlawful discrimination. If so, you may obtain judicial review of this decision—including a disposition of your discrimination claims—by filing a civil action with an appropriate U.S. district court (not the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit), within 30 calendar days after you receive this decision.
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If you submit a request for review to the EEOC by regular U.S. mail, the address of the EEOC is:
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(3) Judicial review pursuant to the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012. This option applies to you only if you have raised claims of reprisal for whistleblowing disclosures under
review within 60 days of the date of issuance of this decision.
If you submit a petition for judicial review to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, you must submit your petition to the court at the following address:
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 717 Madison Place, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20439
Additional information about the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is available at the court‘s website, www.cafc.uscourts.gov. Of particular relevance is the court‘s “Guide for Pro Se Petitioners and Appellants,” which is contained within the court‘s Rules of Practice, and Forms 5, 6, 10, and 11.
If you are interested in securing pro bono representation for an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, you may visit our website at http://www.mspb.gov/probono for information regarding pro bono representation for Merit Systems Protection Board appellants before the Federal Circuit. The Board neither endorses the services provided by any attorney nor warrants that any attorney will accept representation in a given case.
FOR THE BOARD:
/s/
Jennifer Everling
Acting Clerk of the Board
Washington, D.C.