Quillet v. DVA

Opinion

Case: 25-1195 Document: 48 Page: 1 Filed: 07/22/2026

NOTE: This disposition is nonprecedential.

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ______________________

HEATHER QUILLET, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, LOCAL 1133, Petitioners

v.

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, Respondent ______________________

2025-1195 ______________________

Petition for review of an arbitrator’s decision in No. 241026-00647 by David. E. Wilson. ______________________

Decided: July 22, 2026 ______________________

ANDREW WEEKS, Legal Justice at Work, PLLC, Louis- ville, KY, argued for petitioners. Also represented by WHITNEY RAILEY.

MATTHEW JUDE CARHART, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, United States Department of Jus- tice, Washington, DC, argued for respondent. Also repre- sented by ELIZABETH MARIE HOSFORD, PATRICIA M. MCCARTHY, BRETT SHUMATE. ______________________ Case: 25-1195 Document: 48 Page: 2 Filed: 07/22/2026

Before MOORE, Chief Judge, LOURIE and HUGHES, Circuit Judges. HUGHES, Circuit Judge. Heather Quillet petitions this court to review an arbi- trator’s decision sustaining her removal from federal ser- vice. Ms. Quillet worked as a registered nurse at the Robley Rex VA Medical Center (Robley) in Louisville, Kentucky, from July 2013 through June 2023. She was hired under 38 U.S.C. § 7401(1), which provides for appointment of VA healthcare professionals outside the standard civil service appointment procedures of title 5 of the U.S. Code, see Bon- ner v. Dep’t of Veterans Affs. Pittsburgh Healthcare Sys., 477 F.3d 1343, 1345 (Fed. Cir. 2007), and was a member of the American Federation of Government Employees, Lo- cal 1133 (the Union). In June 2023, Ms. Quillet tested positive for mariju- ana, and the Department of Veterans Affairs proposed her removal for violating its drug-free workplace policy. The Union, as Ms. Quillet’s representative, filed a grievance with the agency challenging her removal. After meeting with Union representatives, Robley director Jo-Ann Gins- berg issued a response sustaining Ms. Quillet’s removal. Ms. Quillet then elected to challenge her removal through arbitration pursuant to the collective bargaining agree- ment between the Union and the agency. The arbitrator held a hearing in September 2024 and issued a decision sustaining Ms. Quillet’s removal on October 21, 2024. Ms. Quillet and the Union then petitioned for review by this court. Ms. Quillet alleges that jurisdiction is proper under 5 U.S.C. § 7121(f), which provides this court with jurisdic- tion to review certain arbitrator decisions. See Burke v. U.S. Postal Serv., 888 F.2d 833, 834 (Fed. Cir. 1989). But we have expressly held that section 7121(f)’s jurisdictional grant does not extend to VA healthcare professionals who Case: 25-1195 Document: 48 Page: 3 Filed: 07/22/2026

QUILLET v. DVA 3

are appointed under 38 U.S.C. § 7401(1), like Ms. Quillet. See Bonner, 477 F.3d at 1346–48 (concluding that employ- ees hired under § 7401(1) “have never had the right to ju- dicial review by this court” of arbitrator decisions). Because we are without jurisdiction to consider the arbitrator’s de- cision, we dismiss Ms. Quillet’s petition for lack of jurisdic- tion. DISMISSED COSTS No costs.