Claim for Backpay

An Army employee requested a reconsideration of a claims settlement which denied his claim for backpay based on delays in effecting his appointment to a position with the Army. The employee claimed that the administrative errors which caused the delay as well as the 13-month delay in the Civil Service Commission's (CSC) investigation were unjustified and unwarranted personnel actions and, therefore, he should have received a retroactive appointment and backpay. It was held that the employee did not have a vested right to the appointment and the Army retained administrative discretion in choosing between three alternate corrective actions offered by CSC. The Army chose the alternative of hiring the employee, and since the determination to do so was discretionary, the employee was not entitled to backpay for the period prior to his actual appointment. Accordingly, the previous disallowance of the claim was sustained.