5 U.S.C. § 7703 : US Code - Section 7703: Judicial review of decisions of the Merit Systems Protection Board

Search 5 U.S.C. § 7703 : US Code - Section 7703: Judicial review of decisions of the Merit Systems Protection Board

(a)(1) Any employee or applicant for employment adversely
affected or aggrieved by a final order or decision of the Merit
Systems Protection Board may obtain judicial review of the order or
decision.
(2) The Board shall be named respondent in any proceeding brought
pursuant to this subsection, unless the employee or applicant for
employment seeks review of a final order or decision on the merits
on the underlying personnel action or on a request for attorney
fees, in which case the agency responsible for taking the personnel
action shall be the respondent.
(b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, a
petition to review a final order or final decision of the Board
shall be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any
petition for review must be filed within 60 days after the date the
petitioner received notice of the final order or decision of the
Board.
(2) Cases of discrimination subject to the provisions of section
7702 of this title shall be filed under section 717(c) of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e-16(c)), section 15(c) of the
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 633a(c)),
and section 16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as
amended (29 U.S.C. 216(b)), as applicable. Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, any such case filed under any such section
must be filed within 30 days after the date the individual filing
the case received notice of the judicially reviewable action under
such section 7702.
(c) In any case filed in the United States Court of Appeals for
the Federal Circuit, the court shall review the record and hold
unlawful and set aside any agency action, findings, or conclusions
found to be - 
(1) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise
not in accordance with law;
(2) obtained without procedures required by law, rule, or
regulation having been followed; or
(3) unsupported by substantial evidence;
except that in the case of discrimination brought under any section
referred to in subsection (b)(2) of this section, the employee or
applicant shall have the right to have the facts subject to trial
de novo by the reviewing court.
(d) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management may obtain
review of any final order or decision of the Board by filing,
within 60 days after the date the Director received notice of the
final order or decision of the Board, a petition for judicial
review in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit if the Director determines, in his discretion, that the
Board erred in interpreting a civil service law, rule, or
regulation affecting personnel management and that the Board's
decision will have a substantial impact on a civil service law,
rule, regulation, or policy directive. If the Director did not
intervene in a matter before the Board, the Director may not
petition for review of a Board decision under this section unless
the Director first petitions the Board for a reconsideration of its
decision, and such petition is denied. In addition to the named
respondent, the Board and all other parties to the proceedings
before the Board shall have the right to appear in the proceeding
before the Court of Appeals. The granting of the petition for
judicial review shall be at the discretion of the Court of Appeals.