[HUD Employee's Entitlement to Backpay for Period of Erroneous Classification]

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and a labor union requested a decision regarding an employee's claim for backpay for the period during which she performed the duties of a position which HUD later reclassified to a higher grade. GAO held that the claimant was not entitled to backpay, since: (1) she was entitled to the salary of the position she held, regardless of the duties she performed; and (2) the subsequent reclassification of the position was not retroactive. Accordingly, the claim was denied.