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The Merit Systems Protection Board reversed the demotion of a Small Business Administration financial analyst after the board decided that the agency could not punish the worker for filing travel reimbursement claims for 29 trips in less than four years from his home in Denver to his official duty station in Washington, D.C.

Rennaye L. Johnson was promoted to a GS-15 supervisory financial systems analyst position based out of Washington in March 1997. Before accepting the job, which involved supervising workers in Washington and Denver, it was agreed that the official duty station would be switched to Denver. The official location was not changed for three years, however, and from the time of his promotion to January 2001, Johnson's travel expenses for the monthly trips from his home in Colorado to Washington totaled more than $56,000.

In June 2002, the agency's chief financial officer noticed that Johnson had received reimbursements for the trips to Washington and demanded that Johnson repay the agency within 60 days or they would take the money out of his paycheck. But before the 60-day deadline arrived, the CFO charged Johnson with a litany of offenses involving the monthly trips to Washington, as well as misuse of a government credit card. The agency decided to demote Johnson to a GS-13 district information resource manager and suspend him for 30 days.

The board decided to drop Johnson's demotion because the "most serious" charge relating to his trips to Washington were unmerited, but maintained that Johnson deserved some punishment because he misused a government credit card.

Johnson admitted that he accidentally used a government credit card to book two personal flights and two rental cars. He said he was unsuccessful in substituting his own card to charge for the expenses. The agency admitted that the accidental use of a government credit card "happens," and Johnson was able to pay back the agency for the charges.

The board also noted that Johnson's misuse of the government credit card for personal hotel reservations was not a mistake and that he had used the card because it was the only one he had at the time he made the reservation.

Rennaye L. Johnson v. Small Business Administration, Merit Systems Protection Board (DE-0752-03-0208-I-1), Sept. 30, 2004.

Second Offense

A 30-day suspension is an adequate punishment for a government worker who accidentally charged $226.12 on a government credit card, according to a recent MSPB decision.

Despite the fact that William F. Quarters paid the government back for his "honest mistake," the board ruled that "misuse of a government credit card is a serious offense," and the 30-day suspension, which was dropped in Quarters' first appeal, was reasonable.

According to the decision, Quarters, a 17-year Veterans Affairs Department employee, admitted that he used his government Citibank card to buy tires for his car on Dec. 26, 2002, but claimed he mistakenly pulled the wrong card from his wallet. He did not realize he had used the government card until a month later when he received the bill, which Quarters, a supervisor, paid with his own money.

A July 30, 2003, appeal of Quarters' punishment dropped the suspension because he had not used the card on purpose, but the final decision by MSBP stated that Quarters' intent was irrelevant. Because Quarters recently received a 14-day suspension for making inappropriate and threatening statements, the board said the agency had the discretion to treat the misuse of the card as a second offense under agency guidelines.

William F. Quarters v. Veterans Affairs Department, Merit Systems Protection Board (BN-0752-03-0129-I-1), Sept. 30, 2004.