Eustacio Origenes, Petitioner, v. Office of Personnel Management, Respondent, 107 F.3d 31 (Fed. Cir. 1996)

ORDER

Eustacio Origenes moves for reconsideration of this court's December 21, 1995 order dismissing his petition for review.

Origenes' petition for review was dismissed on the ground that the petition was not filed within the 30-day period imposed by statute. See 5 U.S.C. § 7703(b) (1). We now revisit that determination.

The certified mail return receipt provided by the Merit Systems Protection Board indicates that the final order in Origenes' case was stamped as delivered by the Philippines post office on May 10, 1995. Origenes' petition for review was not filed until June 14, 1995, beyond the 30-day appeal period. Origenes contends, however, that his representative did not sign for the copy of the Merit Systems Protection Board's final order until May 29, 1995, and that the petition for review is thus timely. Upon close inspection, it appears that there is a second, handwritten date of May 29, 1995 by the addressee's signature on the return receipt. Because of the inconsistencies on the return receipt, we will allow Origenes to proceed.^*  The Office of Personnel Management is not precluded from filing a motion to dismiss if it chooses.

Accordingly,

IT IS ORDERED THAT:

(1) Origenes' motion for reconsideration is granted. The court's December 21, 1995 dismissal order is vacated, the mandate is recalled, and Origenes' petition is reinstated.

(2) Origenes' motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis is granted.

(3) OPM's brief is due within 30 days of the date of filing of this order.