Oyer v. MSPB

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• Decided: April 21, 2026
• Docket: 26-1346
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

Case: 26-1346 Document: 18 Page: 1 Filed: 04/21/2026

NOTE: This order is nonprecedential.

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ______________________

ELIZABETH OYER, Petitioner

v.

MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD Respondent ______________________

2026-1346 ______________________

Petition for review of the Merit Systems Protection Board in No. DC-0752-25-2372-I-1. ______________________

ON MOTION ______________________

Before LOURIE, CHEN, and STARK, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM. ORDER Elizabeth Oyer appealed her removal from federal ser- vice to the Merit Systems Protection Board. The adminis- trative judge dismissed without prejudice subject to automatic reinstatement to allow for the expected resolu- tion of two appeals pending before the full Board on related Case: 26-1346 Document: 18 Page: 2 Filed: 04/21/2026

issues.1 Ms. Oyer then petitioned this court. In response to this court’s show cause order, Ms. Oyer urges the court to exercise jurisdiction and grant relief under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 18. The Board opposes that motion and urges dismissal because the appeal is premature. This court’s jurisdiction with respect to appeals from the Board is limited to “an appeal from a final order or final decision of the . . . Board.” 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(9). “[A]n order is final only when it ends the litigation on the mer- its[.]” Weed v. Social Sec. Admin., 571 F.3d 1359, 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2009) (cleaned up); cf. PGS Geophysical AS v. Iancu, 891 F.3d 1354, 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2018). The order dis- missing Ms. Oyer’s appeal subject to automatic refiling did not resolve the merits of the appeal. Rather, it “effectively stay[ed the] proceedings,” In re Jadhav, 795 F. App’x 846, 848 (Fed. Cir. 2020), which “is not ordinarily a final deci- sion,” Moses H. Cone Mem’l Hosp. v. Mercury Constr. Corp., 460 U.S. 1, 10, n.11 (1983), and was obviously not one here.2 Even were we to construe this as a petition for a writ of mandamus under 28 U.S.C. § 1651, we cannot say that the stay is “so extensive that it is ‘immoderate or indefi- nite’” or otherwise a clear abuse of discretion. Groves v. McDonough, 34 F.4th 1074, 1080 (Fed. Cir. 2022) (cleaned up); see Jadhav, 795 F. App’x at 848. Accordingly,

1 The Board has now issued its decision.

2 Ms. Oyer points to boilerplate language in the ad- ministrative judge’s decision regarding finality, but “[t]he Board’s characterization of its order does not . . . govern our jurisdiction under our jurisdictional statutes,” Morri- son v. Dep’t of the Navy, 876 F.3d 1106, 1110 n.2 (Fed. Cir. 2017). Case: 26-1346 Document: 18 Page: 3 Filed: 04/21/2026

OYER v. MSPB 3

IT IS ORDERED THAT: (1) The appeal is dismissed. (2) All pending motions are denied. (3) Each party shall bear its own costs. FOR THE COURT

April 21, 2026 Date