From pages 33-34 of this report by the Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton:
Administrative appeals of agency decisions to remove or discipline federal employees that are currently filed with the MSPB and/or the EEOC would now be handled by a single adjudicatory body, a reconstituted MSPB, with the exception of cases that have been brought to the OSC.
The MSPB is best positioned to expertly handle cases now brought to the EEOC and has an excellent track record of expeditiously and fairly dealing with employee disputes. The revamped board would investigate and render decisions on all employee disputes involving discipline or termination and ensure that due process rights are maintained. Further, there should be limited judicial review of an appeals authority in a single venue: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
…
How It Would Work
Employees would file their complaint or appeal either through the negotiated grievance procedure if applicable or the reconstituted MSPB, but not both. If an appeal contains a formal complaint of discrimination or raises an allegation of discrimination in connection with some other management action, the case would fall under the jurisdiction of the MSPB, not the EEOC as is the case today.
The new MSPB would have increased resources and be empowered to investigate disputes and hold evidentiary hearings only if necessary, and would be required to render a final administrative decision within 120 days, a standard met today by the board in the cases it handles.
What this means, in practice, is no more access to federal district courts (jury trials) for numerous discrimination complaints for federal employees. All would be handled by a “revamped” MSPB (which has a track record of ruling for appellants less than 4 percent of the time – an “excellent track record” for rogue agencies, that is). Further, the Federal Circuit has a similar “excellent record” – of affirming the MSPB’s record 95 percent of the time.
This also means no jury trials for employees who allege racial, gender, age, or disability discrimination, or all-circuit review for whistleblowers. It also means allowing summary judgment in whistleblower and adverse action cases – something that Congress rejected in 1978.
This is the naked denial of civil rights and workplace justice under the banner of “reform.”
