The Foreign Service Journal, October 2016

62 OCTOBER 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS AQ&Awith the Foreign Service Grievance Board The Foreign Service Griev- ance Board exists to resolve individual grievances brought by members of the Foreign Service, ensuring the fullest measure of due process for FS employees. Employees who have a complaint about certain aspects of their employment may submit a grievance to their agency outlining their concerns and including any provisions of law, regulation or policy they believe have been violated or misapplied. For a list of common griev- ances, visit the AFSA website www.afsa.org/grievance- guidance. If the employee’s grievance is not resolved to her/his satisfaction at the agency level, the employee may appeal to the Foreign Service Grievance Board. Please note that former employees may file a griev- ance only with respect to an alleged denial of an allow- ance, premium pay or other financial benefit. FSGB members are appointed by the Secretary of State from nominees approved by AFSA and the foreign affairs agencies and adjudicate from 43 (2015) to 126 (2011) appeals in a year. The board currently consists of 17 members, with a mix of professional arbitrators and retired Foreign Service employees. AFSA, through our Labor Management team, fre- quently assists members with FSGB appeals. In this Q&A, the Chairman of the FSGB, Garber Davidson, answers some common questions about the board’s functions and relationship with AFSA. Chairman David- son is a lawyer with extensive experience in international economic development. He was a Senior Foreign Service officer at USAID, where he served both overseas and in Washington as an agency lawyer. Mr. Davidson served as AFSA’s USAID vice presi- dent from 1994 to 1996. He retired from the Foreign Ser- vice in 1996 and has served as FSGB chairman since October 2011. Q: Who can bring a case to the FSGB? A: The Foreign Service Act of 1980 determines the Foreign Service Grievance Board’s jurisdiction, both as to who may bring a case and what about. You have to be a cur- rent or former member of the Foreign Service—whether tenured (“career”), unten- ured (“career candidate”), on a limited appointment (as is the case with some security agents and visa adjudica- tors, for example), an eligible family member or a retiree to bring a case. Former mem- bers of the Service may only grieve financial issues. It is important to under- stand that, with the excep- tion of separation-for-cause cases, the FSGB only takes cases on appeal. So the board will only hear cases that have already been denied at the agency level. Most grievances are resolved at the agency level, however, so the FSGB never sees them. For the past several years the board has received about 50 to 60 cases annu- ally, from the Department of State, USAID, the Foreign Commercial Service, Peace Corps and the Foreign Agri- cultural Service. Q: How big is the FSGB, and what are the backgrounds of the members selected to serve on it? A: The FSGB currently has 17 members, about two-thirds of them annuitants of the foreign affairs agencies and one-third attorneys with employment law expertise or judicial experience. The make-up of the board is sub- ject to change, as members come up for renewal every two years and renewal is not automatic. Currently the ranks include two former ambas- sadors, two senior judges from the District of Colum- bia’s Superior Court, a former chief administrative law judge at the Depart- ment of Labor, a former deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of Human Resources, a former direc- tor of performance evalu- ation at the Department of State, and retired Senior Foreign Service officers from USAID and Commerce. Not all members of the board have formal legal training, but they have the option to receive research support from a part-time contract appeals counsel, a retired FS veteran of USAID’s Office of the General Counsel. Q: How well informed is the FSGB about the Foreign Service experience, its uniqueness and its chal- lenges? A: The majority of board members have served full Foreign Service careers. But the Service is an evolving institution, so FSGB staff make sure the members receive key announcements and Office of the Inspector General and news reports, and speakers are invited to quarterly meetings and for brown-bag lunches to discuss current issues affect- ing Foreign Service careers. Three of the five full-time staff positions are filled by active-duty Foreign Service members. Q: What are some features of the FSGB that differenti- ate it from other adjudica- tory institutions? A: The power the FSGB has that is most appreciated by grievants is that of being able to order interim relief while the appeal is being consid- ered. So, for example, the board can order an agency to postpone disciplining an individual while it consid- ers whether the penalty is fair. Also, if both the agency