GovernmentExecutive.com

When D. Gregory Arnold, an Air Force employee, traveled to Florida to take a mandatory contracting course, his agency paid for everything except the plane ticket.

Arnold, who works in Ohio, enrolled in the class and arranged to have his family accompany him to Florida last June for the two-week course. He obtained a $208 plane ticket for himself through the commercial travel office designated by the agency.

A week before he was supposed to start class, Arnold found out he was not officially enrolled and instead had been erroneously placed on a waiting list. His supervisor suggested he go to Florida with his family as planned, pay for his own plane ticket and try to attend the class anyway. If he managed to get into the class, the government would pay for his travel expenses; if not, he could stay with his family in Florida on vacation.

Arnold followed his boss' advice and ended up taking the class. The Air Force reimbursed him for all his expenses, except for the $202 plane ticket he bought after canceling the one purchased through the commercial travel office. Since Arnold did not purchase the plane ticket through government channels, he could not be reimbursed, the agency argued.

The Board of Contract Appeals ordered the Air Force to reimburse Arnold for his plane ticket because of the unusual circumstances surrounding the situation. According to the Joint Travel Regulations, under "unusual circumstances," employees may use a non-contract travel agent to make travel arrangements when there is no other alternative.

The board said that since Arnold did not know in advance whether he would be on official travel when he arrived in Florida, he had the right to purchase the ticket from any available source. "The commercial travel office was, by its own admission, not an alternative source of tickets for personal travel," according to the board.

Even without the unusual circumstances, the government was still obligated to reimburse Arnold, the board argued. "The Federal Travel Regulation provides that when a federal employee purchases such a ticket for official travel from an unauthorized travel agent, the employee is responsible only for additional costs that result from that action...Arnold's ticket became one for official travel when confirmatory travel orders were issued to him."

In the Matter of D. Gregory Arnold, General Services Administration Board of Contract Appeals (15692-TRAV), Jan. 18, 2002.

Demoted For Disclosure

The U.S. Marshals Service recently reached a settlement with an employee who said he was demoted for blowing the whistle on the agency's alleged violation of aircraft maintenance regulations, according to the Office of Special Counsel.

The employee, who was a GS-13 level maintenance coordinator with the agency's Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS) in Oklahoma, told colleagues, managers and contractors that he believed the agency was violating general equipment and aircraft maintenance requirements. After disclosing that information, the employee alleged he was stripped of his job duties as a supervisor and demoted to a GS-12 position.

The Office of Special Counsel, the independent agency responsible for enforcing the 1989 Whistleblower Protection Act, concluded there was reasonable evidence to suggest the employee was demoted in retaliation for his disclosures. The OSC based its decision in part on a JPATS memo that suggested a link between the employee's demotion and his disclosure.

As part of the settlement agreement, JPATS appointed the employee to a GS-13 position as a quality assurance specialist, restored his previous job duties and paid his attorney's fees. JPATS did not admit liability, and the employee agreed to withdraw the complaint submitted to the Office of Special Counsel.

OSC case, Feb. 13, 2002.