Case: 14-3180 Document: 14 Page: 1 Filed: 10/21/2014
NOTE: This order is nonprecedential.
United States Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit
______________________
SARVJIT S. CHOWDHARY,
Petitioner,
v.
MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD,
Respondent.
______________________
2014-3180
______________________
Petition for review of the Merit Systems Protection
Board in No. CH-0752-09-0364-I-1.
______________________
ON MOTION
______________________
Before LOURIE, MOORE, and REYNA, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM.
ORDER
The Merit Systems Protection Board (“Board”) moves
without opposition to transfer this petition for review to
the United States District Court for the Eastern District
of Michigan.
Case: 14-3180 Document: 14 Page: 2 Filed: 10/21/2014
2 CHOWDHARY v. MSPB
Sarvjit S. Chowdhary was removed from his position
as a Consumer Safety Officer with the Department of
Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service in 2006.
He appealed his removal to the Board, claiming, as an
affirmative defense, that the agency action was in retalia-
tion for filing a number of discrimination complaints
against his supervisors. In 2007, the Administrative Law
Judge (“ALJ”) assigned to the matter affirmed the agen-
cy’s determination.
In 2009, Chowdhary filed a second appeal at the
Board, alleging his removal was improper because the
agency discriminated against him on the basis of his race,
religion, and national origin. The ALJ dismissed the
appeal on res judicata grounds, concluding that the claim
could have been brought in his prior appeal. In 2013,
Chowdhary filed a petition for review at the Board, which
was dismissed as untimely in an order now before this
court.
Under the statutory provisions that govern judicial
review of Board decisions, federal district courts, not this
court, have jurisdiction over “case[s] of discrimination”
under 5 U.S.C. §§ 7702, 7703(b). See Kloeckner v. Solis,
133 S. Ct. 596, 607 (2012). That includes cases in which
the Board either addressed the merits or resolved the case
on procedural grounds. See id. Here, there is no dispute
that this petition belongs in federal district court.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED THAT:
The motion is granted. The petition is transferred to
the United States District Court for the Eastern District
of Michigan pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1631.
Case: 14-3180 Document: 14 Page: 3 Filed: 10/21/2014
CHOWDHARY v. MSPB 3
FOR THE COURT
/s/ Daniel E. O’Toole
Daniel E. O’Toole
Clerk of Court
s30
ISSUED AS MANDATE: October 21, 2014