KPW Co-Manager Jessica Parks was contacted by The Washington Post to provide expert perspective on possible federal employee furloughs. In an article published February 27, 2013, The Washington Post quoted Ms. Parks regarding possible legal issues that could arise if federal employees are furloughed due to sequestration. In the article, “Sequester a nightmare for appeals agency,” The Washington Post wrote, “In terms of precedent, furlough cases are ‘largely unexplored territory,’ said Jessica Parks, a former MSPB vice chairman who is now with Kator, Parks & Weiser. She said that many earlier cases involved special rules applying to one small group of employees, administrative law judges.”
Ms. Parks discussed possible legal challenges that may be available to federal employees subject to a furlough order: “‘It comes down to: Are there going to be fairness issues? And that depends on how each agency handles it,’ Parks said. …. ‘While that may sound simple, we see in our practice that agencies often don’t follow procedures correctly,’ Parks said. ‘Sometimes they make mistakes. If that happened in a particular case, it could result in the reversal of an action and then back pay and other relief.'”
If you have questions about your possible legal rights related to a furlough order, contact KPW now (at 202-898-4800) to discuss your legal options.