Claim for Retroactive Temporary Promotion and Backpay

An employee of the Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center in California appealed the denial of her claim for a retroactive temporary promotion and backpay. The claim was timely filed with VA, but mishandling by that agency caused part of the claim to exceed the 6 year limitation by the time it was received at GAO. Therefore, that part of the claim was barred from GAO review. The employee contended that she had been assigned to a detail in excess of 120 days and that the detail was at a higher grade and pay scale. However, the employee did not carry her burden of proving the circumstances of the detail. Therefore, in absence of any evidence to support the employee's contentions, this part of the claim was also disallowed. Accordingly, the decision of the GAO Claims Group was sustained.