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B-236754 1 (1990-03-21)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadnsc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 
                                                HOWCLw
The Comptroller General
of the United States
Wahington, D.C. 204

Decision



Matter of: Andrea V. Gabriel

File:     B-236754

Date:     March 21, 1990

DECISION

Ms. Gabriel, a former employee of the Department of
Agriculture, was reassigned from a position in Berkeley,
California, to a position in Washington, D.C., effective
December 7, 1986. She refused the reassignment and failed
to report for duty in Washington. She was placed in
absence-without-leave (AWOL) status and subsequently
removed, effective February 23, 1987, for her failure to
report for duty.

Ms. Gabriel did not appeal her separation from federal
service but rather appealed her placement in AWOL status to
the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). The MSPB ruled
that the agency's directed reassignment was not an action
appealable to the Board, and the MSPB denied her appeal of
constructive removal from her position in December 1986.1/

Ms. Gabriel argues that the directed reassignment and
placement in AWOL status were improper and should be
reversed by our Office.2/ We have reviewed the record
before us and find no basis to overturn the agency's actions
in this case. We note that the claimant was offered the
choice of (1) accepting the reassignment or (2) declining
the reassignment, resigning, and applying for placement
assistance, but that she chose to decline the reassignment
with the understanding that she would be removed for failure
to report for duty.

The propriety of the agency's actions in this case has been
reviewed by the MSPB. As noted in the MSPB opinion cited
above, the MSPB administrative judge concluded that the


l/ Gabriel v. Department of Agriculture, Docket
No. SF07528710211-1 (Sept. 30, 1988).

2/ Mr. Robert L. Neal, Ms. Gabriel's designated representa-
tive, has presented this claim.

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