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[Request for an Advance Decision]

B-214881 May 15, 1984
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Highlights

An advance decision was requested concerning the relocation expense claim of a Forest Service employee who was reassigned to a location at which her husband had accepted employment. The employee accepted the lateral reassignment after having been informed that relocation expenses were not authorized because her reassignment was primarily for her benefit. The employee contended that the agency erroneously denied payment of her relocation expenses on the ground that her needs were served by the transfer could not be used to conclude that the Government's interest was not also served by the transfer. The employee claimed that she assumed a vacant position which the agency had been unable to fill due to a lack of qualified applicants. GAO stated that the fact that an employee is transferred to fill a vacant position is not the sole basis for a determination that his transfer is primarily in the Government's interest. GAO will not overturn an agency's determination that relocation is primarily for an employee's convenience unless it is arbitrary, capricious, or clearly erroneous. No such showing was made in this case. Accordingly, the Forest Service's determination was sustained.

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