Most Food and Drug Administration employees in Maryland work at the agency’s White Oak campus in Silver Spring, and when a removal, long suspension, or demotion arrives, the first question is usually whether it can be appealed. The answer depends on your appointment, your time in service, and the type of action. A Maryland federal employee attorney will check each of those before anything else. Below are six things FDA employees should know about their appeal rights, followed by five Maryland law firms that represent employees in workplace disputes.
What should FDA employees know about their appeal rights?
1. Do you have appeal rights at all?
It depends on your appointment. Competitive service employees generally gain Merit Systems Protection Board appeal rights after completing a one-year probationary period. Employees in the excepted service usually need two years of current continuous service, or one year if they are preference eligible veterans. FDA hires many scientists under special authorities, including Title 42 and an authority created by the 21st Century Cures Act, so check your SF-50, the official record of your appointment. Probationary employees can appeal only in narrow circumstances, such as a termination based on partisan politics or marital status.
2. Which actions can you appeal?
The main appealable actions are removals, suspensions of more than 14 days, reductions in grade or pay, and furloughs of 30 days or less. Reductions in force and denials of a within-grade increase after reconsideration can also be appealed. A reprimand or a suspension of 14 days or less cannot go to the Board, though it may be grieved or raised in an EEO complaint.
3. How long do you have to file?
Generally 30 days from the effective date of the action or the date you received the agency’s decision, whichever is later, under 5 C.F.R. § 1201.22. Appeals can be filed online through the Board’s e-Appeal system. Late appeals are dismissed unless you show good cause, which is difficult.
4. Should you appeal to the MSPB or use another route?
That choice needs care. If you are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, you may have to elect either a negotiated grievance or a Board appeal, and the first one you file usually binds you. Union coverage at several HHS components was affected by a 2025 executive order and the litigation that followed, so confirm your current status. If your appeal includes a discrimination claim, it becomes a mixed case, which follows its own filing rules.
5. What happens once your appeal is filed?
An administrative judge oversees discovery and holds a hearing if you request one. For a misconduct action under Chapter 75, the agency must prove its charges by a preponderance of the evidence. A performance action under Chapter 43 uses the lower substantial evidence standard. You can ask the full Board to review the initial decision within 35 days and can then seek review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit within 60 days of a final Board decision.
6. What defenses can you raise?
Beyond challenging the charges and penalty, you can raise affirmative defenses. These include discrimination, whistleblower reprisal, retaliation for protected activity, and harmful procedural error, meaning a mistake by the agency that likely changed the outcome. Raise them early, because defenses not raised before the administrative judge can be lost.
Which Maryland law firms help with workplace appeals?
- The Mundaca Law Firm
- Zuckerman Law
- Thatcher Law Firm
- Joseph, Greenwald & Laake
- Zipin, Amster & Greenberg
1. The Mundaca Law Firm: Maryland Federal Employee Attorney
The Mundaca Law Firm is led by Francisco E. Mundaca, Esq., Founding Partner, with a Maryland office at 1997 Annapolis Exchange Parkway, Suite 300, in Annapolis. The firm represents federal workers at agencies across Maryland, including the FDA, NIH, the Social Security Administration, NSA, and military installations with civilian workforces.
Its federal practice covers each stage described above: replies to proposed removals, demotions, and suspensions; MSPB appeals; mixed cases; EEO discrimination complaints; whistleblower retaliation claims; and reductions in force. Consultations are confidential.
2. Zuckerman Law
A firm with a Chevy Chase office whose practice includes whistleblower matters.
3. Thatcher Law Firm
A Greenbelt, Maryland firm whose practice includes employment matters.
4. Joseph, Greenwald & Laake
A Greenbelt firm with several practice areas, including employment law.
5. Zipin, Amster & Greenberg
A Silver Spring firm whose practice includes wage claims.
What should FDA employees do first?
Confirm your appointment type and service time, identify exactly what action the agency took, and calendar the 30-day filing deadline the day the decision arrives. Decide on your forum before filing anything, and list every defense you may want to raise. If you work at White Oak and are facing an adverse action, a Maryland federal employee attorney can review your appointment and help you choose the right path before the deadline passes.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.