Gallegos v. Merit System Protection Board, No. 16-2120 (Fed. Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseGallegos worked for the FDA, 1980-2000. He was removed for refusal to accept a reassignment that required relocation. Gallegos appealed to the Merit System Protection Board. In 2001, the parties entered into a settlement, providing that the Agency would expunge from Gallegos’s file and Standard Form 50 any indication that he was removed. A revised SF50 would indicate “voluntary resignation.” Gallegos was to “be provided with a copy of the revised SF50 … notify the Agency of any concerns within 15-days.” The Board approved the settlement, noting that any petition for enforcement must be filed within a reasonable period after discovery of noncompliance, consistent with 5 C.F.R. 1201.182(a). Almost 14 years later, Gallegos alleged that he discovered that his revised SF-50 indicated resignation “in lieu of involuntary action.” Gallegos alleged that he had misplaced the agreement and was only able to confirm the breach by obtaining a copy in response to a FOIA request. In 2015, Gallegos filed a petition for enforcement with the Board. An administrative judge concluded that Gallegos had received the revised SF-50 14 years earlier, and that Gallegos did not establish good cause for the delay. The Board and Federal Circuit affirmed, noting Gallegos’s failure to maintain a copy of the agreement and his apparent failure to compare the SF-50 with the settlement agreement. Gallegos did not establish good cause for untimely filing.
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