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Post by aljwishhope on Oct 16, 2015 18:32:07 GMT -5
IMHO leave SSA if you cannot find any upward mobility. I am particularly speaking to commenter who referenced being stuck at GS12. I left SSA AT GS12 because the appointment was temporary and advancement limited. I went to private sector but did not like company. Quit. Suffered some unemployment and underemployment but within 6 months had a government attorney job that advanced to GS12 in 3 years.The job is not ideal. Has a lot of issues like DR job production and paralegals doing sisimilar work. However I earn much more. I say this not to be harsh but to say it is my experience that it is easier to move on early in career as a 11 or 12. For example when I left ssa I had an EEOC AJ interview -did not follow thru as I took private job. Now as a GS14 Some 20 years out of law school I cannot buy an interview. For many reasons I think it is "easier" to make a move now. And because I do have SSA experience I still have a shot at being an ALJ - I test in December.
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Post by aljwishhope on Oct 16, 2015 18:39:14 GMT -5
Meant advanced to GS14 in 3 years. Hate autocorrect.
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Post by montyburns on Oct 16, 2015 20:05:25 GMT -5
Interesting discussion. I guess I am lucky to be a SA. It is truly bad that the program is frozen. I know lots of very experienced attorneys now stuck at gs-12. Meanwhile I know SAs who only got the job b/c it was either a near-automatic promotion back in the day, or, worse, they were "lateraled" to SA when they could not hack it as GS. Fortunately some of the 12s are on their way to becoming ALJs.
I concur with the above poster about not getting stuck in govt service. It's funny how quick one goes from being the rising star to the old crazy guy that's worked here forever. That said I have been told that SA is the best job in ODAR, if not all of SSA (meanwhile GS might be the worst). And the 13 makes it just enough not to leave. Not to mention that if you are getting on, you begin to value things like insurance, telework, and easy leave a lot more. Honestly, I never had lofty expectations salary-wise, and if someone told me when I was graduating law school that I would clear six figures only driving to work once a week, well I would've thought that was great.
Nevertheless I have done almost nothing but write for 2 years. The program needs to be reinstated with clear vision and uniform implementation. OTRs, PHCs, prehearing review and work up should all be part of the deal. It should be a distinctly different job than writer/AA, though writing should still be part of it.
As a final thought, I cannot help but wonder if ODAR would not be better served if the ALJ job was converted to a hearing officer job. The pace and process of hiring is glacial, the successful applicants almost unremoveable, and I honestly do not see the return in terms of quality. About 10% of judges are just bad at the job in one way or another. I think the mere title "ALJ" attracts applicants who just want to be called "judge." Now for other agencies where they have trial like, adversarial hearings, where judges must actually rule on objections, perhaps the OPM process makes sense. But ODAR? No. And really I am hard pressed to identify any actual, practical differences between what a hearing officer can do, and what an SSA ALJ does in actual practice. Obviously there is a legal distinction, but in practice, I do not see a great deal of difference. Understand that I say this not as someone who is anti-ALJ (indeed the former claimants rep in me finds the notion of converting ALJs to HOs abhorrent) but as someone who believes in ODARs core purpose, has worked on both sides, and has a desire to see the system operate more effectively for the benefit of all of us.
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Post by montyburns on Oct 16, 2015 20:33:14 GMT -5
Part of the problem is its disheartening to work in the office next to a paralegal specialist who might have a bachelors but likely has a high school education while they are being paid the same. You likely have a mountain of student loan debt especially if you graduated within the past 5 years and they don't. They can also become group soups. The only advantage you have in theory is that you may qualify to be a judge someday but this forum probably correctly paints that as an extreme long shot. Oh yea I forgot I have to pay bar dues and attend CLEs while they don't too. The senior attorney program represented something they didn't have and now that's gone too. These are all legitimate gripes. Fortunately para-writers are fewer and farther between than they were. That said, I've known non-atty writers who read case law and knew their stuff. They also had invaluable FO experience. The sort of person to seek out to explain the bizarre OP case that comes in. OTOH I've known non-atty writers who could just not write at all, much less write decisions. Overall the job should be for attorneys, imo, but it would be nice to have a FO liaison or something to explain the 80s computer screen print out stuff you see in the OP or cessation cases.
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Post by maquereau on Oct 17, 2015 10:18:34 GMT -5
SA is/was possibly the best job in the agency; if it had been subject to further GS progression at a 14 or 15, I probably would never have attempted to get the ALJ gig. When I was writing, I was annoyed that the "paralegals" were making the same or more (since many had been with the agency for a long time) and that I had additional expenses associated with being an attorney. What I wish now is that the agency had in place some semi-objective method for rating people applying to writer positions - most particularly with respect to the so-called paralegals. As it stands now, the principal criterion I can discern for the promotion is whether the individual is a favorite of the HOD.
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Post by daisyjane on Oct 17, 2015 11:18:57 GMT -5
From superbonbon's and redryer's posts above:
superbonbon: "As for daisyjane's assertions about the senior attorney program, I don't know of any productivity indices applied to senior attorneys in my former region. Whenever we had workload calls with our regional office, they'd simply ask how the senior attorneys were doing and we'd say "fine" -- even though many of them weren't that productive or particularly good at their jobs. There was simply no productivity metric in place for them."
redryer: "But as Super Bonbon said, there were no metrics applied. Each office seemed to interpret the job differently. And like the ALJ corps and the DW corps, there have been really productive senior attorneys and really marginal ones. But the concept was a great one. The fault was in the implementation."
The trouble the Agency has always had with metrics and the Senior Attorney program is their obsession with measuring performance by the "number" of decisions a SA writes. At one point in my office, some consideration was also given to the "number" of cases a SA screened each month. However, no consideration was ever given to the QUALITY of the SA's work product, and I am not just talking about the Quality of the decisions they wrote, but of the Analyses they drafted for each case they screened and could not pay O-T-R. I put a great deal of thought into the Analyses I wrote for the ALJ's and received several compliments from ALJ's over the years. I have also put a lot of energy through the years in writing emails and notes to ALJ's in response to questions they have asked me, or in ALJ cases assigned to me where the ALJ has made a remandable error. As for SA decisions I wrote and signed through the years, I was pretty conservative and only paid cases I believed were fully supported by the evidence. Nevertheless, other SA's in my office and others paid 2-3 times more cases than I, i.e., cases I probably would not have paid, soley because of the Agency's obsession with measuring performance by the "number" of decisions each SA wrote and quality be damned. This was asinine and clearly endangered the SA Program. Moreover, many of the same SA's put little, if anything, into their Analyses of the cases they screened and did not pay O-T-R, i.e., often only stating VE necessary, etc., because the powers that be who evaluate their performance never looked at those.
To a certain extent, I cannot blame the SA's who did this because they performed their jobs in the most logical way to achieve the highest performance evaluations and eligibility for performance awards. This is management's fault at every level, i.e., through the entire chain of command. Unfortunately, many of these individuals are either members, or the appointed cronies and favorites, of the "Old Regime" dating back to OHA years which preceded ODAR.
It finally appears there are some new members in some of the most powerful positions in the Agency, such as Chief ALJ Bice, who are trying to turn this around and place more emphasis on Quality. Unfortunately, I do not think there is enough new blood yet in these power positions at the highest levels in the Agency to effectively turn things around and get the SA Program up and running again in all its original glory, i.e., think some of Chief ALJ Bice's associate ALJ's and commissioner's in Falls Church and Baltimore from the "Old Regime" or "controlled" cronies/minions appointed by the "Old Regime" to carry out their wishes, i.e., disgust for the SA Program.
As for metrics to measure the performance of SA's, I assert the focus should NEVER be on the "number" of decisions a SA writes each month, quality be damned, nor should it be on the "number" of cases they screen each month with little, or nothing, put into the Analyses they prepare for the cases which cannot be paid O-T-R. SA Performance must be measured by the Quality of the work they perform in every aspect of their work, i.e., quality of Decisions they write, quality of Analyses they prepare on cases they screen and cannot pay O-T-R, quality of the advice they provide when asked, or when they discover an error in an assigned ALJ case, etc., quality of the types of pre-hearing work-up they request, etc.
The Agency must get away from the long-term, "Old Regime" obsession they have with measuring ones Performance solely by "production numbers." This is especially true with the SA Program. However, some of the "Old Regime" and the cronies/minions the "Old Regime" appointed to these high power positions in the Agency must either go, or be removed from power.
FYI, when I mentioned a Career Ladder for ODAR Attorneys in an earlier post and the importance the SA Program has in that regard, I was NOT saying I believe there should be an automatic Career Ladder from AA DW all the way to ALJ. Nevertheless, I fully concur with "montyburns" post that ODAR would be much better served with Hearing Officers rising through the ranks from AA rather than ALJ's. Our hearings are non-adversarial and do not require the Litigation background OPM puts so much emphasis on to become an ALJ. Moreover, I cannot tell you how many ALJ's I have worked with over the past 3 decades who are just awful, i.e., the way they treat claimants and/or staff, their refusal to actually learn the law, the fear many had through the years of even having to question a VE or ME at a hearing (God forbid), and the number of interrogatories I have prepared to compensate for this fear, the number who just shoot from the hip in terms of the decisions they make on cases and exclusively rely on the DW's to carry hem, etc.
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Post by aljwishhope on Oct 17, 2015 12:20:24 GMT -5
It seems to be the same at my agency with numbers over quality. I will get a very good rating I think but not the highest. Because there is no downside to my logical colleagues who write more decisions than I but with errors or less thorough. They are doing what the Agency asks. I choose to balance doing more challenging cases, going the extra mile in matters that won't add to my numbers (I.e. special projects) and doing research on novel issues for job fulfillment versus just hitting the highest numbers. It helps to know that is justhow it is. Accept it or not. Mind you that does not mean I have not been upset. Just had to let it go. I say all this on this forum to share that it may in fact be crazy all over.
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Post by daisyjane on Oct 17, 2015 13:29:59 GMT -5
ALJ wishhope,
I suspect it is crazy all over, but that does not make it right, or the best and most effective way to manage a government Agency. I simply cannot turn deaf ear and blindly accept such mismanagement, not to mention the rampant cronyism and favoratism that has been present at SSA/ODAR the past several years. To the contrary, the culpable individuals at the highest levels must be held accountable for the illegal Prohibited Personnel Practice they have engaged. They are the ones responsible for the terrible mismanagement and ridiculous emphasis on individual "production numbers" and obstinate refusal to make the changes which must be made to reduce the backlog of disability cases, and to reinstate the SA Program as it originally began in 1995 before these knuckle heads began chopping off the program but by bit over the years until the all but complete destruction the SA Program is today.
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Post by maquereau on Oct 17, 2015 14:16:40 GMT -5
Daisy, it sounds like you've been doing the job the right way. I wish all SAs did so - and I wish the same of all writers and judges. But at ODAR, "quantity is job one"!
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Post by marten77 on Oct 17, 2015 17:05:36 GMT -5
Part of the problem is its disheartening to work in the office next to a paralegal specialist who might have a bachelors but likely has a high school education while they are being paid the same. You likely have a mountain of student loan debt especially if you graduated within the past 5 years and they don't. They can also become group soups. The only advantage you have in theory is that you may qualify to be a judge someday but this forum probably correctly paints that as an extreme long shot. Oh yea I forgot I have to pay bar dues and attend CLEs while they don't too. The senior attorney program represented something they didn't have and now that's gone too. Couldn't agree with these sentiments more. I really enjoy my job as a writer. It definitely pays fairly well (with OT) and there is minimal stress compared to litigating. Other commenters have raised the point that some paralegals do better than some attorney writers. I agree with that as well. When I was litigating I saw paralegals who were more prepared and could handle a case better than the attorneys they worked for. This is just a sad fact of the practice of law. But since this is a civil service position, which is supposed to be based upon merit, it would be nice if the mountain of law school debt amassed (I graduated more than 10 years ago and my student loan monthly payment is slightly more than my mortgage payment every month) counted towards something additional such as either a one level higher pay grade or (at the bare minimum) a perk such as paying bar dues and CLEs. Paralegals do not have to pay for CLEs either just to remain paralegals (at least not where I'm at they don't). Alas, I will not hold my breath that any of this will change any time soon though.
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Post by daisyjane on Oct 17, 2015 17:38:39 GMT -5
maquereau stated, "But at ODAR, "quantity is job one"!"
Yes, but "quantity" must be focused on the method of production which most effectively reduces the "quantity/number" of backlog cases - NOT the "production numbers/quantity" of decisions of each individual ALJ, DW, and SA. In evaluating the performance of SA's, it should NOT be exclusively based on the number of decisions each SA writes, which is the way their performance is presently managed in many ODAR offices. This is stupid! The SA position, in my opinion, is invaluable to helping the Agency reduce the present backlog of disability cases, and the Powers that be, or "Old Regimer's," and/or the cronies they appointed to those positions, intentional refusal to utilize the SA Program with all the original duties and signature authority it started with in 1995 to reduce the backlog is just plain idiotic and irresponsible. The statistics from the early years of the SA Program show how tremendously efficient the SA Program was in reducing the backlog of cases then, and it would be the quickest and most efficient way to reduce the backlog now. With the SA Program operating as it was originally intended, i.e. myriad responsibilities, SA's performance should be based on the QUALITY of their entire work product - NOT the number of decisions they write. The illegal Prohibited Personnel Practices some managers have recently engaged to push some SA's out the door into an involuntary "Constructive Discharge/Retirement" based exclusively on the number of decisions they write (quality be damned) when compared to that of a full time DW, is wrong, and I refuse let it continue without persistent and loud protest to Congress until these idiots are held to account for their illegal conduct, and the SA Program once again appropriately utilized and implemented with all the original duties and signature authority it encompassed in 1995 when it began.
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Post by privateatty on Oct 18, 2015 7:47:04 GMT -5
I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but there will never be a career ladder from any government attorney position into an ALJ position. Becoming an ALJ is not considered a promotion, even if you stay in the same agency. It is a competitive appointment. If you get the ALJ job and don't like it, you cannot go back to your former position. If you can't do the job, the agency can't demote you. They can only move to terminate you. That's a little harsh, and stating that the only remedy for the Agency is to terminate an under-performing ALJ, false. Yes, if the ALJ is like Judge Shapiro and completely and utterly unwilling to reform his or her glacial pace and abide by disciplinary "counsel", then yes, I'd agree with you. ODAR is ODAR and the Union/Puzzle Palace "relationship" (for want of a better term) is an excuse for Puzzle Palace to seek the gallows at every opportunity. There are all kinds of factual scenarios involving Judges. Different agencies handle things differently. Judges have been demoted to an attorney position and Judges have been allowed to keep their position following actions that would have gotten them a pink slip at a law firm. Which is in part the reason that the other Agencies always have applicants from sitting ODAR Judges.
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Post by quesera on Oct 18, 2015 8:55:20 GMT -5
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Post by daisyjane on Oct 18, 2015 12:54:30 GMT -5
I read the Arbitrator's opinion, and I say hooray for NTEU for putting the pedal to the metal when it comes to the kooks in Falls Church who continue to micro-mismanage by insisting on a failed performance measure technique the Agency has used for years, i.e., "numerical metrics" for each individual DW with plans to extend some version of it to SA's. As I said in an earlier post, "Stupid does as stupid is." From the Arbitrator's decision, "Using a numerical standard known as the Decision Writers Productivity Index (DWPI), the Employer intends to rate employees on how long it takes them to draft ALJ decisions. The DWPI is based on completion time averages for various categories of cases (varying in difficulty) computed from national statistics for the bargaining unit showing total numbers of decisions issued and total number of work (“in the seat”) hours. The DWPI is enumerated as a percentage of the average taking all cases together. Under the Employer’s plan, a score higher than 120 percent on the DWPI productivity index will indicate consideration for a Level 5 rating of “outstanding contribution” for the element; a 3 score of 80 to 120 percent will be indicative of a Level 3 rating of “successful contribution.” A score below 80 percent will warrant consideration of a Level 1 rating of “not successful” that may result in the initiation of a Performance Assistance (PA) plan." I do not see where there is any statistical validity as to the manner in which percentages are calculated for determining DWPI, i.e., 120%, 80%, etc. In my opinion, even though NTEU is trying its best to take into account several factors, there is still far too much room for subjectivity in terms of how the percentage is calculated to determine DWPI. Moreover, human beings are not automatons. Here's the stickler [from the decision], "Supervisors may conclude that an employee’s performance in that element was successful or outstanding even though an employee does not fall within a particular DWPI range." This is not going to go well for DW's who are not personally liked for what ever ridiculous reason, and/or are targets of bullying and mobbing by supervisors, coworkers and other managers" in certain ODAR workplaces which I have witnessed first hand. The supervisors and managers I know who have engaged in Prohibited Personnel Practices, and even criminal misconduct, to push targeted employees (often excellent Federal career employees, btw) out the door will continue to use fuzzy math to calculate a target employees DWPI and then use it as "cause" to push the target employee out the door. I mean they have already been able to get away with engaging in Prohibited Personnel Practices to accomplish this and the Agency has NEVER held them accountable for their misconduct. I realize many of you have not seen this, but it is very real and is going on in certain ODAR offices right now. "Numerical metrics" for each individual DW, AA, SA and ALJ is NOT what is necessary to reduce the backlog of disability cases, and the Agency's well documented historical failed use of it over a period of many years supports this conclusion. The "Old Regimer's" and their cronies/minions in the power positions in the Agency remain obstinate and intentionally refuse to acknowledge the failure of the "Numerical metrics" system of performance evaluation they historically created and implemented. The backlog of disability cases continues to grow while these idiots toy around with failed management techniques. The SA Program as originally implemented in 1995 with signature authority and myriad duties is currently the most efficient manner the Agency could and should utilize to immediately reduce the backlog. The hiring of ALJ's has been slow plus there is quite a learning curve once they start. As for the future, the Agency would be better served by using its SA's as Hearing Officers rather than ALJ's. I also noticed the Arbitrator indicated the DWPI was created and what is used by the Appeals Council. I just read in the last week, or so, on this blog (not sure if it was this thread or another) where poster's indicated the Appeals Council does not use "Numerical metrics." Did the AC just start this DWPI thing, or have they been doing it a long time? The Arbitrator's opinion intimates they have been using it for some time. Regardless, there is absolutely no comparison whatsoever of what it takes to write an AC Remand in contrast to an ALJ decision, inluding favorable ones. Just saying.
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Post by daisyjane on Oct 20, 2015 8:33:45 GMT -5
From what I've heard at my new position, the AC employees are also held to a productivity metric and lose their telework for 12 months if they dip below 100% just once. IDIOTS! Just how incompetent must the managers in Falls Church and Baltimore be before Congress realizes many of them are simply inept, obstinate and refuse to entertain any other innovative and creative ideas about how to reduce the backlog of disability cases other than their historically well documented FAILED individual "numerical metrics," punishment and micromanagement style of operating ODAR and SSA and takes necessary action?
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Post by mamaru on Oct 20, 2015 13:09:27 GMT -5
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Post by JudgeRatty on Oct 20, 2015 17:55:53 GMT -5
From what I've heard at my new position, the AC employees are also held to a productivity metric and lose their telework for 12 months if they dip below 100% just once. IDIOTS! Just how incompetent must the managers in Falls Church and Baltimore be before Congress realizes many of them are simply inept, obstinate and refuse to entertain any other innovative and creative ideas about how to reduce the backlog of disability cases other than their historically well documented FAILED individual "numerical metrics," punishment and micromanagement style of operating ODAR and SSA and takes necessary action? So, let me get this straight, it sounds like to me you and management are not best buds? LOL! Sure seems like a lot of negative posting for someone wanting this job. I mean, if you pretty much dislike everything about ODAR, why on earth are you going through all of this? Not trying to be a smart-A here, it just seems odd to me. I loved my job as a SAA and had nothing but good things to say. Totally supported my management team and I have tried to spread good energy and good thoughts about the entire process. These negative posts and name calling management do not help anyone.
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Post by phoenixrakkasan on Oct 20, 2015 18:57:58 GMT -5
IDIOTS! Just how incompetent must the managers in Falls Church and Baltimore be before Congress realizes many of them are simply inept, obstinate and refuse to entertain any other innovative and creative ideas about how to reduce the backlog of disability cases other than their historically well documented FAILED individual "numerical metrics," punishment and micromanagement style of operating ODAR and SSA and takes necessary action? So, let me get this straight, it sounds like to me you and management are not best buds? LOL! Sure seems like a lot of negative posting for someone wanting this job. I mean, if you pretty much dislike everything about ODAR, why on earth are you going through all of this? Not trying to be a smart-A here, it just seems odd to me. I loved my job as a SAA and had nothing but good things to say. Totally supported my management team and I have tried to spread good energy and good thoughts about the entire process. These negative posts and name calling management do not help anyone. Your appointment is indicative that your positive energy and teamwork will aid you in this process. I have not heard many different ways to address the backlog and performance measures. This thread is slipping down towards negativity.
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Post by daisyjane on Oct 21, 2015 13:05:07 GMT -5
So, let me get this straight, it sounds like to me you and management are not best buds? LOL! Sure seems like a lot of negative posting for someone wanting this job. I mean, if you pretty much dislike everything about ODAR, why on earth are you going through all of this? Not trying to be a smart-A here, it just seems odd to me. I loved my job as a SAA and had nothing but good things to say. Totally supported my management team and I have tried to spread good energy and good thoughts about the entire process. These negative posts and name calling management do not help anyone. Your appointment is indicative that your positive energy and teamwork will aid you in this process. I have not heard many different ways to address the backlog and performance measures. This thread is slipping down towards negativity. JudgeRatty, Yes, I realize I sound negative, but there are very good reasons for this. On page 3 of this thread in a post I wrote on October 8, I discussed some of the history relevant to my situation which dates back several years. So, I will direct you to that post and a few which followed it for background information. I have been with ODAR nearly 3 decades. I was a stellar decision writer and SA from the start of the program in 1995, in terms of both quality and quantity, who received numerous QSI's and Performance Awards for the first 12 years of my career. Through no fault of mine, I became the target of a management team and a gang of coworkers who conspired with an ex-husband hellbent on destroying my employment and career with ODAR since the start of a lengthy divorce back in 1991. As I stated in my Oct. 8 post, the HOCALJ and HOM in my office undertook to destroy/eliminate the SA program in my office. As the SA who had been with the Agency the longest, I proudly and firmly stood up to them and won. The following year, in 1998, all of the ALJ's and previous managers of my office filed a legal petition to remove these managers along with the ROCALJ. The Agency's only response was to appoint the HOCALJ as "Acting HOCALJ," i.e., no response at all and the corrupt management team persisted. They continued to engage in Prohibited Personnel Practices and forced my longtime Supervisory Attorney who had been with the Agency 20+ years into an involuntary "Constructive Discharge/Retirement." The illegal harassment and misconduct she was subjected to inside and outside the office was beyond anything many of us could ever even imagine. For personal reasons, she chose not to pursue litigation. When HPI was implemented in 2000 and all employees had to reapply for positions for which they qualified, I was not rewarded for all the excellent hard work I performed for so many years. Because I had some disabilities, including severe cervical disc disease, I had asked for a position which would not require persistent typing, i.e. HOD or GS. Up to that point, I had verbally transcribed all my work. Despite my request, I was given the same SA position, even though these corrupt managers knew the persistent typing was going to be very problematic for me. The HOD position, which would have been a grade higher promotion, was given to an African American staff attorney in my office who had only been with the Agency not quite 3 years. She subsequently became my first and second line supervisor and began engaging in Prohibited Personnel Practices (PPP's) to oust me, as a quid pro quo for the corrupt managers who selected her for the HOD position. Fast forward to today, and I am involved in litigation with the Agency over these PPP's and concerted effort by those who conspired all through these years with my ex-husband and these corrupt managers to oust me. Despite the difficulty I had with persistent typing in my SA position, I continued to perform stellar work, although the quantity of ALJ decisions I could write was no where near what I wrote using verbal transcription with a typist. When I applied to become an ALJ in 2013 and took the 3 online tests, I experienced computer problems during each of the 3 tests, even though I had retained a computer expert to make sure my computer, which was fairly new then, had everything necessary to take the online tests. What happened during each of the tests is that I repeatedly encountered the message, "Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and must close," at which time my computer rebooted itself. I had no control over this. With the SJT, I was able to go back and continue where I left off but the time had continued to tick away. With the writing sample portion of the test, the instructions indicated that if anything happened, we could either save what we had written, or start the test over. So, when I experienced the problem during the writing test, the first time I started over. When it happened again, I had no choice but to save what I had written because little time remained. Since the 3rd test was not timed, the computer issues were a headache. A few months later, tests on my computer confirmed it had been hacked. Oh, I forgot to mention PPP's were set up and targeted to me from certain managers in my office during the period it was known the ALJ position was going to be advertised, and escalated at the very same time everyone knew I had been selected to take the online tests. I previously applied to become an ALJ in 2007, but because of an OPM error, my application along with others could not be processed, and those affected had to reapply in 2008, which I did. I went to DC for the written test, and I felt I performed well. During the panel interview, however, a lady from OPM began the interview by asking the meaning of a latin legal term I have never heard, and she kept coming back to that question over and over and over. I thought my answers to all the other questions went well, but her conduct in returning to this irrelevant question when I had already told her I did not know the answer certainly cast a shadow on how my panel interview was scored. Knowing what I know about the corrupt managers and everything that has happened since, it would not surprise me a concerted effort was made to derail my 2008 ALJ application. The ALJ position was advertised again in 2009, but I could not apply per OPM rules because not enough time had elapsed since my 2008 application. However, those whose ALJ applications in 2007 were processed were allowed to apply again in 2009. I did not think that was right. Even though I performed excellent work as a SA, these corrupt managers and their cronies along with a gang of coworkers in allegiance with my ex-husband have all but pushed me into an involuntary "Constructive dischage/retirement." I have an EEOC case which began in 2013, and I have not yet had a hearing before an EEOC Judge. After I filed my Complaint, I was the victim of several crimes, i.e., my house broken into several times, utilities cut off in the cold of winter, computer hacked again, property destroyed or vandalized, mail stolen, and the list goes on and on. There were also repeated attempts by Agency EEO officials to derail my case, and I had to go all the way to the top of the EEOC before everything was straightened out. Managers through the entire ODAR chain of command continue to engage in a massive cover-up over matters concerning my case. Despite all the stellar hard work I performed for so many years, these managers have refused my requests for help, and are only concerned with covering for themselves at this point. Some of the criminal and misconduct issues in my case have been so egregious as to necessitate Congressional inquiry. When I was contacted by OPM about fioling an appeal, I was in no condition or shape to do so. I am a good person who does not deserve any of this, and I have always been a stellar SA. Because my work conditions were made intolerable, I have not worked for more than 2 years and have been living on savings. So, if I sound negative, this is why. I just want you all to know this is happening and that everything concerning ODAR is not peaches and cream. Until the corrupt managers started in my office several years ago, I was a team player and got along very well with management. For the record, I am only 55 years of age.
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Post by phoenixrakkasan on Oct 21, 2015 16:20:11 GMT -5
Daisyjane, I hope you can find peace and move on from this. Being 55 is great since you can take positive action to improve your situation. Being on this board may not be the best use of your time or energy. Good luck and best wishes that you find something that brings back joy.
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