Background
Robena G. Reid appealed her removal from the Department of Transportation to the Merit Systems Protection Board. The Board affirmed in part and remanded for further adjudication of her claim that the Department retaliated against her for prior equal employment opportunity activity.
Reid petitioned the Federal Circuit for review without abandoning that retaliation claim. The court therefore had to determine whether it or a federal district court had jurisdiction. The Department suggested that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia would be an appropriate forum because the alleged conduct occurred while Reid worked from the Department’s Washington, D.C., headquarters, but argued that transfer was unnecessary because the Board’s remand order was not final.
The Court’s Holding
The Federal Circuit held that Reid’s case generally belongs in federal district court because she continues to allege that her removal was based, at least in part, on covered discrimination. Under 5 U.S.C. §§ 7702 and 7703(b)(2), district courts—not the Federal Circuit—have jurisdiction over such mixed cases, including claims of retaliation for prior EEO activity.
The court rejected the Department’s contention that the Board’s nonfinal remand order made transfer unnecessary. Because more than 120 days had passed since Reid filed her Board appeal without a judicially reviewable action, 5 U.S.C. § 7702(e)(1)(B) permitted her discrimination case to proceed in district court. The court transferred the matter and all filings to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia under 28 U.S.C. § 1631.
Key Takeaways
- A federal employee’s challenge to an appealable personnel action belongs in district court when it includes a claim of covered discrimination that the employee continues to pursue.
- Retaliation for prior EEO activity generally falls outside the Federal Circuit’s jurisdiction when asserted as part of a mixed case.
- A Board remand does not prevent district-court proceedings when more than 120 days have elapsed without a judicially reviewable Board action.
Why It Matters
The nonprecedential order illustrates the jurisdictional path for federal employees pursuing mixed cases before the MSPB. When a petitioner preserves a discrimination or EEO-retaliation theory, review generally lies in district court rather than the Federal Circuit.
It also confirms that the statutory 120-day provision can permit district-court review even when Board proceedings remain unresolved on remand, avoiding indefinite delay while the employee awaits a final Board disposition.