Howatt v. United States

The plaintiff in this civilian pay case, a civilian criminal investigator for the Navy, challenges primarily the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his demotion for two charges of misconduct while conducting an investigation. Both parties have moved for summary judgment, and we heard oral argument. On the first charge we conclude that the findings of the Federal Employee Appeals Authority ("Appeals Authority”) were based upon an erroneous legal standard, and we remand the case to the Merit Systems Protection Board (the successor to the Appeals Authority) for further findings under the…