Proposed Disciplinary & Adverse Actions

The Law Firm of Matthew D. Estes regularly represents federal employees facing proposed disciplinary and adverse actions based upon alleged misconduct and poor performance. Time is of the essence in these cases as federal agencies typically provide short timeframes for an employee to respond to the deciding official, and we encourage you to contact an attorney as soon as possible if you are facing a proposal.

Most federal employees have due process rights in connection with their federal employment. This means that before a federal agency is allowed to take any disciplinary or adverse action against an employee, the agency must provide the employee with certain procedural protections, including:

• written notice of the reasons for the proposed action;
• the supporting evidence and materials relied upon;
• the right to be represented by an attorney or other representative; and
• an opportunity to respond in writing and orally.

If you are facing an  adverse action, which is defined as suspension greater than 14 days, demotions and removals, you must be given at least 7 days to respond. For less serious disciplinary actions, including suspensions of 14 days or less, there is no mandatory time limit to respond but most agencies give at least 5 days, if not more. While many agencies will grant reasonable requests for extensions, it is important to act quickly to protect your rights and your job. 

Before responding to any proposed disciplinary or adverse action, it is critical to review the proposal and all materials relied upon by the proposing official. The proposal will list any charges of misconduct and supporting specifications, which contain specific allegations of misconduct that fall under the charge. The proposal will also list all the factors that the proposing officials consider to be aggravating factors warranting a more severe penalty. If the proposal is based upon allegations of poor performance, the proposal will follow a Performance Improvement Period and will likely focus on how you failed to meet minimum expectations during that period of time. 

At the Law Firm of Matthew D. Estes we take a proactive approach in responding to proposed disciplinary and adverse actions. We work with our clients to present an aggressive defense to allegations of misconduct or poor performance, including seeking out new evidence and witness statements that will rebut allegations in the proposal. We leverage applicable case law and precedent to demonstrate to the Agency that taking the proposed action will violate law and raise allegations of discrimination, retaliation and any other affirmative defenses a client may have to convince the agency to withdrawal the proposal. 

Charges of misconduct or poor performance should be taken very seriously as they can have severe and long-lasting implications for your federal career. It is important to consult with experienced federal employment attorney to ensure that your rights are protected and that you make the strongest legal arguments possible to stop an Agency from taking a disciplinary or adverse action against you. The Law Firm of Matthew D. Estes has represented hundreds of federal employees in disciplinary cases, and we are standing by to advise and assist you in protecting your job.