Rosano v. United States

9 Cl. Ct. 137, 1985 U.S. Claims LEXIS 887
United States Court of Claims·Decided November 6, 1985·No. No. 200-85C·Published·Cited by 27 cases

Opinion

OPINION ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

PHILIP R. MILLER, Judge:

This is a suit brought by a terminated probationary civilian employee of the United States Navy for back pay, reinstatement, refund of part of his health insurance premiums paid during his employment, and an incentive award. The government has moved for summary judgment, arguing the court lacks jurisdiction to award judgment on such claims, and that, in any event, the back pay and reinstatement claims are barred as res judicata by prior decisions adverse to plaintiff.

I.

In November 1979, the Department of the Navy, Marine Corps, appointed plaintiff, a civilian, as a GS-11 engineer at Camp Pendleton. Plaintiff was a career conditional appointee, and was subject to a one-year probationary period. During his first days on the job, plaintiff was offered the opportunity, like all federal employees, to join the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FHP). The program lets federal employees choose a health insurance plan from among a group of plans preselected by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Under the FHP, the employee contributes a portion of the premium, and the government pays the remainder.

Plaintiff discovered that all the available plans included coverage for abortion and contraception. Opposed to these procedures on religious grounds, plaintiff requested a plan that did not provide such coverage. None being available, he asked either to have his premium prorated to exclude that portion which pays for the objectionable coverage or to have the government contribute its share to the premium cost of private insurance coverage. Plaintiff was informed that the FHP makes no provision for reduced premiums or contribution to insurance plans outside the FHP. He was told he could only choose a plan as provided or forgo coverage and the government contribution. Plaintiff complained that this choice—accept a plan that “funded” abortion or be denied health insurance—violated his first amendment rights. However, desiring health insurance benefits, he nevertheless enrolled in the Blue Cross-Blue Shield plan.

Plaintiff consulted with a Marine Corps Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) counselor regarding his allegations of religious discrimination. The EEO counselor informed plaintiff that he could pursue an EEO complaint or he could file a complaint on his own with the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). He was advised to choose the MSPB route because the Navy EEO office at Camp Pendleton had no authority to change the FHP.

[140] Plaintiff submitted his complaint to the Special Counsel of the MSPB, which informed him on April 7, 1980 that it was not authorized to pursue his complaint because there was no indication that any personnel practice or other activity prohibited by the Civil Service provisions had occurred.

After April 7, plaintiff concedes that he continually spent most of his official work time preparing a new complaint and responding to the Special Counsel’s letter, and that his supervisors warned him that the time he was devoting to his complaint was excessive.

Plaintiff’s petition reveals that despite these, and subsequent admonitions, after April 10 he continued to pursue his complaint substantially to the exclusion of his engineering duties. On May 20, his immediate supervisor recommended he be terminated during his probationary period. The primary reason given was plaintiff’s inability to complete research projects within reasonable time; numerous instances of plaintiff taking more than two to three times the time estimated to be necessary were noted. Additionally, his supervisor stated that plaintiff’s engineering knowledge and experience were proving inadequate, and that plaintiff was unable to schedule his time or judge the degree of complexity required. On May 23, 1980 plaintiff was notified in writing that he was terminated effective May 30.

Plaintiff filed an informal EEO complaint with the Marine Corps EEO office at Camp Pendleton. After interviewing plaintiff, his supervisors and co-workers, the EEO counselor concluded that there was no evidence of religious discrimination. A formal EEO investigation subsequently concluded that there was no discrimination and “[t]he complainant was removed solely because he was deficient in the performance of his assigned duties as a civil engineer.”

Plaintiff also had appealed his termination and his constitutional complaint about the PHP to the MSPB. The MSPB held it was without jurisdiction to review the termination of a probationary employee for religious discrimination, and did not address the constitutional issue. Its order was upheld by the full Board on December 12, 1980. Rosano v. Department of the Navy, 4 M.S.P.B. 516, 4 M.S.P.R. 566 (1980).

Plaintiff appealed the Board’s decision to the United States Court of Claims, which upheld the termination decision but remanded for the MSPB to consider his additional constitutional claim for award of a sum equal to the value of the government’s contribution to his health insurance premiums during the period of his employment. Rosano v. United States Marine Corps, 229 Ct.Cl. 780 (1982) (Rosano I). On remand, the Board held it lacked jurisdiction to consider plaintiff’s objections to the health plans selected under OPM’s discretionary authority to contract with qualified carriers of group health insurance plans. Rosano v. United States Marine Corps, 10 M.S.P.R. 67, 11 M.S.P.R. 79 (1982). That decision was affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Rosano v. Department of the Navy, 699 F.2d 1315 (Fed.Cir.1983) (Rosano II).

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Rosano v. United States, 9 Cl. Ct. 137, 1985 U.S. Claims LEXIS 887 (cc 1985).

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