John Doe v. Department of Agriculture

Opinion

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD

SPECIAL COUNSEL DOCKET NUMBER EX REL. JOHN DOE, 1 CB-1208-25-0020-U-1 Petitioner,

v.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, DATE: March 3, 2025 Agency.

Erik Snyder , Esquire, for the petitioner.

John Doe , pro se.

Steven C. Brammer , Esquire, and Domiento C.R. Hill , Esquire, for the agency.

BEFORE

Cathy A. Harris, Chairman

ORDER

This matter comes before the Board on the February 28, 2025 initial stay request of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC). Pursuant to 5 C.F.R. § 1201.136(e), OSC is ORDERED to provide the following information so that it is received by the Clerk of the Board no later than 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, March 4, 2025:

(1) To the extent that OSC is requesting a stay regarding the terminations of the 29 former agency employees whose redacted termination letters are

1 I find it appropriate to grant the relator’s request for anonymity in this matter. Accordingly, the matter has been recaptioned as “John Doe.” 2

attached to its stay request, OSC shall provide the names of those individuals, consistent with 5 C.F.R. § 1201.135(a), or an explanation of why it cannot provide those names; (2) To the extent that OSC is requesting a stay of the terminations of any other individuals who were employed by the agency and terminated during their probationary periods since February 13, 2025, based on letters stating “The [a]gency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the [a]gency would be in the public interest,” OSC shall provide the names of those individuals consistent with 5 C.F.R. § 1201.135(a). Special Counsel ex rel. John Doe v. Department of Agriculture, MSPB Docket No. CB-1208-25-0020-U-1, Stay Request File, Tab 1 at 4. If OSC is unable to provide the names of any of these individuals, it must explain why it cannot provide those names; (3) If OSC is unable to provide the names of any of the individuals listed in paragraphs (1) or (2), OSC shall brief the Board’s authority to grant its request to stay the terminations as a group without the names of the affected individuals; and (4) To protect the personally identifiable information of the putative relators, OSC’s submission should be filed under the docket number 3

Special Counsel ex rel. John Doe v. Department of Agriculture , MSPB Docket No. CB-1208-25-0020-U-2, and only be served on the agency.

FOR THE BOARD: ______________________________ Gina K. Grippando Clerk of the Board Washington, D.C.