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.