Ralph Long v. The Department of the Air Force

Appellant Ralph Long appeals from an order of the Merit Systems Protection Board. He contends that the notice of proposed separation he received, from his employer was invalid in failing to specify sufficiently the grounds for his removal. This contention, as well as appellant’s other contentions, is meritless. We affirm the Board’s decision.

FACTS

Ralph Long was an Accounts Maintenance Clerk (GS-5) for the Department of the Air Force. On April 6, 1979, he received notice that the Department would fire him on May 7 because of unsatisfactory work. Among the reasons listed were (1) Long had a 50% error rate in the vouchers he prepared (66 errors in 132 vouchers); (2) Long carelessly handled files and mismatched supporting documents; and (3) Long misfiled invoices. The letter noted that Long had several counseling sessions with supervisors in which his errors were carefully reviewed, but that he continued to have an error rate between 40% and 50%, far above the 10% error rate expected of an employee in his position.

Long requested a hearing with the MSPB. After this hearing, the Presiding Official affirmed the removal action. Long then filed a petition for review with the…