Terry L. Whitman v. Department of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta, U.S. Secretary of Transportation

Terry L. Whitman claims that his employer, the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”), an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (“DOT”), violated his rights under 49 U.S.C. § 45104 (8) and the First Amendment by disproportionately testing him for substance abuse. Concluding that (i) the Civil Service Reform Act (“CSRA”), 5 U.S.C. § 7101 et seq., governs Whitman’s employment grievance against the FAA; (ii) the CSRA does not expressly confer federal court jurisdiction over such claims; and (iii) Whitman’s sole remedy lies with the negotiated grievance procedures set forth in the collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) between the FAA and the National Association of Government Employees (“NAGE”), the district court dismissed Whitman’s action. We affirm because 5 U.S.C. § 7121 (a)(1), as amended in 1994, does not expressly confer federal court jurisdiction over employment-related claims covered by the negotiated grievance procedures of federal employees’ collective bargaining agreements. See Golt v. United States, 186 F.3d 1158, 1164 (9th Cir.1999).

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Federal law mandates random substance-abuse tests for FAA employees “whose duties include responsibility for…