High court allows review of pending disciplinary actions

The Merit Systems Protection Board may look at pending disciplinary actions when reviewing terminations and other serious disciplinary actions, according to a U.S. Supreme Court decision released Tuesday. Tuesday's ruling overturned a Federal Circuit Court of Appeals decision asserting that prior disciplinary actions under review should not be part of a new disciplinary proceeding. "There is nothing arbitrary about the board's decision to independently review prior violations," said Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in delivering the court's opinion. The case, which originated in 1997 when the Postal Service fired Maria Gregory, a letter technician in Hinesville, Ga., will now go back to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. Gregory was fired after overestimating the time needed to complete a mail route. Postal officials considered her prior disciplinary record when making the decision to fire her. At the time she was fired, Gregory had challenged three prior disciplinary actions. Gregory's first pending disciplinary action--the basis for the other two actions--was later dropped. Gregory appealed her dismissal to the Merit Systems Protection Board, which upheld her firing, but the Court of Appeals overturned the board's decision. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the Court of Appeals for a final decision on Gregory's termination, because MSPB was had been unable to weigh Gregory's first pending disciplinary action when making its decision.