Alfonso Debose v. United States Department of Agriculture

Alfonso Debose appeals from an opinion and order of the Merit Systems Protection Board issued March 17, 1981 upholding the Department’s action in terminating him for unacceptable performance. We affirm. FACTS:

Alfonso Debose, a college-trained agronomist, has been employed by the Department of Agriculture as a soil scientist within the Soil Conservation Service since 1965. In his latest position, Debose was responsible for determination of soil types in the field and for preparation of maps indicating the location of various soils. The maps, called field sheets, are aerial photographs of the inspected area upon which the soil scientist makes notations. Cartographers working from the field sheets then prepare finished maps for publication.

In June 1979, Debose received a letter from his immediate supervisor informing him that in the preceding five months he had mapped only about twenty percent of the amount of land expected. Standards for Debose’s position set 2,000 acres a day as an excellent performance and 640 as the minimum acceptable. The letter warned Debose that he had sixty days in which to improve his performance or face an action to fire or demote him. It set the amount…