Haworth v. Office of Personnel Management

8 F. App'x 962
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedMay 8, 2001
DocketNo. 01-3059
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 8 F. App'x 962 (Haworth v. Office of Personnel Management) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Haworth v. Office of Personnel Management, 8 F. App'x 962 (Fed. Cir. 2001).

Opinion

DECISION

PER CURIAM.

Rodney Haworth appeals from an order of the Merit Systems Protection Board, in which the Board upheld the decision of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) denying his request for a supplemental retirement annuity and an increased life insurance benefit based on four years of reemployment service. Because Mr. Haworth was an intermittent employee during the four-year period of his reemployment service and because intermittent employees are excluded from retirement coverage, we affim.

BACKGROUND

Mr. Haworth retired from his position as an Administrative Law Judge with the Social Security Administration (SSA) in October 1989 after 30 years of federal service. Since his retirement, Mr. Ha-worth has received a retirement annuity without interruption. On June 1, 1993, Mr. Haworth was reemployed by SSA as a Senior Administrative Law Judge. Mr. Haworth’s appointment was to an intermittent position, i.e., a non-full-time position without a prescheduled regular tour of duty. 5 C.F.R. § 837.102. As the position was a temporary position created “due to workload imbalances,” the appointment was limited to one year or less. However, Mr. Haworth was reappointed to the same position annually until his termination on May 31, 1998. Mr. Haworth was notified that each of his appointments was an intermittent appointment. He was also notified that he was ineligible for leave and that his annual salary was to be reduced by the amount of his retirement annuity.

Following his termination, Mr. Haworth applied to OPM for a supplemental retirement annuity and for an increased life insurance benefit based on his reemployment service from June 1, 1993, to June 5, 1997. OPM denied his application, stating that because intermittent or WAE (“when actually employed”) employment is not full-time or part-time service, it is not creditable for purposes of establishing a supplemental annuity or an increased life insurance benefit. Mr. Haworth sought reconsideration, arguing that he actually worked on a full-time (or at minimum, a part-time) basis. Mr. Haworth also raised new claims that he had been improperly classified as an intermittent employee, that for that reason his pay should not have been reduced by the amount of his retirement annuity, and that he should have been awarded credit for leave and federal [964]*964holidays. OPM affirmed its initial denial, citing 5 C.F.R. § 837.503 and reiterating that “[b]ecause your reemployment was all intermittent service, it is not creditable for a supplemental annuity.” OPM did not address Mr. Haworth’s new claims.

Mr. Haworth appealed to the Board. In an initial decision, the administrative judge first noted that Mr. Haworth’s new claims — -that SSA had improperly classified him as an intermittent employee, that it had improperly failed to compensate him for leave and holidays, and that it had improperly offset his salary by the amount of his retirement annuity — were not properly before the Board. The administrative judge then concluded that Mr. Haworth had failed to show by a preponderance of evidence that he was entitled to the supplemental retirement annuity. Applying 5 C.F.R. § 837.503, the administrative judge found that Mr. Haworth was not eligible for an increased annuity or life insurance benefits because he had not shown that his employment at any time during the four-year period of his intermittent service was equivalent to one year of actual, continuous, full-time service. The full Board denied Mr. Haworth’s petition for review of the initial decision, which therefore became the decision of the Board.

DISCUSSION

Mr. Haworth contends that OPM’s denial of his application was arbitrary and capricious because OPM did not have access to his payroll and time records. However, Mr. Haworth did not submit his payroll and time records to OPM for its consideration. Moreover, those records were not relevant to his application for a supplemental annuity and increased life insurance benefit. Such benefits are not generally available to intermittent employees, regardless of the total number of hours they actually work. See 5 U.S.C. § 8347(g); 5 C.F.R. § 831.201(a)(2). OPM (and the Board) had access to the most relevant evidence, Mr. Haworth’s Standard Form (SF) 50s, which indicated that he had been appointed to a series of intermittent positions beginning June 1, 1993, and ending May 31, 1998. As an intermittent employee, Mr. Haworth was not entitled to a supplemental annuity or increased life insurance benefit.

The specific regulation governing supplemental annuities confirms that reemployed annuitants who serve as intermittent employees do not qualify for this benefit:

(a) A reemployed annuitant is entitled, on separation, or conversion to intermittent service, to a supplemental annuity if—

(1) The annuitant performed—
(i) At least 1 year of actual, continuous, full-time service;
(ii) Actual, continuous part-time service equivalent to 1 year of actual full-time service; or
(iii) A combination of part-time and full-time actual, continuous service that is equivalent to 1 year of actual full-time service; ...

5 C.F.R. § 837.503. This provision makes clear that a reemployed annuitant cannot earn a supplemental annuity based on intermittent service since the service that entitles an employee to a supplemental annuity ends “on separation or conversion to intermittent service.” See also 5 U.S.C. § 8468(a) & (b)(1)(A) (exempting reemployed annuitants whose “appointment is on an intermittent basis” from pay deductions for the retirement fund and providing that only reemployed annuitants who are “subject to deductions” qualify for an increased annuity based on the period of reemployment). In addition, “actual service” is defined as “the period of time [965]*965during which an annuitant is reemployed, excluding periods of separation and non-pay status,” 5 C.F.R. § 837.102, and “continuous service” is defined as “reemployment without a period of separation from service, or conversion to intermittent status, of more than 3 days,” 5 C.F.R. § 837.102 (emphasis added). Thus, intermittent service may be “actual service,” but it is not “continuous service.” Both actual and continuous service are necessary to qualify for a supplemental annuity. Finally, the regulations clearly distinguish full-time and part-time service from intermittent service on the ground that intermittent service does not involve a prescheduled regular tour of duty.

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Related

Haworth v. Office of Personnel Management
535 U.S. 1113 (Supreme Court, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
8 F. App'x 962, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/haworth-v-office-of-personnel-management-cafc-2001.