Houston Federal Employment Attorneys

Dedicated and Knowledgeable Federal Employment Attorneys in Houston, TX

The laws that apply to you as a government employee are different from those in the business world. A major distinction is that a federal employee can contact the MSPB and EEOC. It is crucial to have a lawyer on your side who is familiar with federal employees’ rights, regardless of the situation you are dealing with.

We are aware of the procedures you must follow in order to support an EEO complaint, MSPB appeal, or other claims. Although challenging the federal government might be scary, it is not impossible if you have the appropriate legal team on your side. You need an experienced federal employment attorney to help you throughout your dispute, and we will be there for you whenever you need us.

As one of the largest federal sector labor and employment law firms, Tully Rinckey PLLC serves as a premier full-service law firm for all federal and government employees with legal issues. Our Houston, TX, federal employment attorneys possess a vast amount of experience when it comes to understanding federal employment law and providing legal representation. Further, by adopting an aggressive legal approach, we have secured positive results for clients in nearly all areas of federal employment law.

Some of the areas in which we can assist you include:

• Federal Employee Mandatory COVID -19 Vaccine Mandate;
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC);
• Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB);
• Disability Retirement;
• Employee Investigations and Actions;
• Disciplinary Actions and Adverse Actions;
• VEOA;
• Employee Discrimination and Harassment;
• Federal Appeals;
• Hatch Act Violations; and
• TSA Employee Appeals to Adverse Actions.

Representing Employees in Federal Appeals

In most cases, adverse federal employment decisions are appealable. At every stage of the legal procedure, including the appeal of an unfavorable decision issued by an Administrative Judge, the Merit Systems Protection Board, OPM, OSC, or even a federal court judge, our attorneys at Tully Rinckey have experience and are here to help you.

Tully Rinckey has had significant success in appealing to the full Merit Systems Protection Board and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

There are extremely rigorous and severe deadlines that apply to the appeals procedure. If you miss a deadline, you run the danger of losing your ability to appeal. Times might be anything from 10 and 90 days, depending on your situation.

If an agency has rendered a judgment against you and you want to begin the appeal process or find out more about your appeal options, get in touch with our office to find out how our knowledgeable federal appeals attorneys can assist you. Our lawyers are available to review your case and walk you through the rationale for a potential appeal.

Employment Discrimination and Harassment

The Civil Rights Act of 1964’s Title VII forbids employment discrimination, including hiring, promoting, and firing decisions based on a person’s race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, handicap, or history of EEO action. Discrimination in employment is also prohibited by several federal statutes, including the ADA and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).

Furthermore, it is forbidden to discriminate against or harass an employee because of their membership in one of the protected classifications.

The federal employment attorneys at Tully Rinckey have a great deal of experience defending clients in the federal and public sectors against allegations of unlawful employment discrimination. Our employment lawyers have handled the following instances of job discrimination for clients both in Houston, TX and around the country:

• Discrimination claims based on one of the previously mentioned protected categories;
• Harassing behavior, including sexual harassment;
• Retaliation-based discrimination for having taken part in previous EEO activities; and
• Denial of equal pay.

How to Make an EEO Claim

The deadlines for filing an EEO complaint are very rigorous. Usually, complaints of discrimination must be filed with the agency’s EEO office within 45 days of the discriminatory action. In general, the counseling process has to be completed within 30 and 90 days after filing. If the problem hasn’t been resolved by then, the worker has 15 calendar days from the time they are informed of their right to do so to file a formal complaint.

When the official complaint is received, the agency will decide whether to reject it or open a formal investigation into the charge of bias. The completion of these investigations, which are commonly handled by outside contractors, is typically required to occur 180 days after the complaint was filed. A copy of the investigator’s Report of Investigation (ROI) will be given to the employee by the agency. After that, the worker has 30 days to request a Final Agency Decision (FAD) or a formal EEOC hearing. In the event that the ROI is not provided within 180 days after the complaint is filed, the employee may request a hearing from the EEOC. These deadlines cannot be postponed.

Contact one of our knowledgeable harassment and discrimination attorneys if you believe you are the victim of illegal discrimination. Our federal employment lawyers can help you at every stage of the EEO process, including pre-complaint counseling, filing a formal EEO complaint, alternative dispute resolution, settlement and hearing, and filing an appeal.