Background
Robert E. Perdue, a former carrier at the United States Postal Service, challenged his removal before the Merit Systems Protection Board. The Board dismissed his appeal, finding he lacked appeal rights because he had not completed one year of continuous service. The Board’s decision became final on April twenty-eight, two thousand and twenty-five. Perdue filed his petition for review with the Federal Circuit on July twenty-five, two thousand and twenty-five.
The court’s reasoning
The court agreed with the United States Postal Service that the petition was untimely under Section seven thousand seven hundred three of Title five of the United States Code. This statute requires a petition to be filed within sixty days after the Board issues notice of its final order. The court noted that while the Supreme Court has ruled the deadline is non-jurisdictional and potentially subject to equitable tolling, the petitioner bears the burden of proving he acted diligently and that extraordinary circumstances existed. Perdue did not argue or offer evidence on either element, so the court found he failed to demonstrate the deadline should be tolled.
What it means going forward
This decision reinforces that litigants appealing from the Merit Systems Protection Board must strictly adhere to the sixty-day filing window or provide substantial evidence to justify equitable tolling.
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