Joseph v. Federal Trade Commission

FRIEDMAN, Senior Circuit Judge.

An unsuccessful applicant for a specific federal position contends that the agency’s procedure in filling the vacancy denied him his veterans’ preference rights. The Merit Systems Protection Board (“Board”) rejected this contention, as do we.

I

A. Federal agencies generally use two types of selection to fill vacancies: (1) the open “competitive examination” process and (2) the “merit promotion” process. See 5 C.F.R. §§ 330.101, 332.101, 335.103 (2007).

The open competitive examination generally is used for employees seeking to join the competitive service and often…