[Decision Concerning Handicapped Army Employee's Reimbursement of Commuting Expenses]

The Army requested a decision as to whether, upon a finding of discrimination, it could indemnify a handicapped employee for transportation and subsistence expenses he incurred while commuting between his residence to his new duty station before being transferred back to his original duty station. The employee was forced to accept a transfer to work at a new duty station because management did not accommodate his physical handicap resulting from his work-related injury. The employee moved his residence to a location midway between the new and old duty stations. Two months later, he was transferred back to his original duty station. Upon the employee's filing of a discrimination complaint, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) found discrimination and recommended that he be indemnified for all out-of-pocket expenses he incurred while traveling between his home and the new duty station. GAO held that the Army could not reimburse the employee's expenses for daily commuting to his permanent duty station or subsistence expenses at his permanent duty station, since: (1) his retransfer to the former duty station did not affect the new station's status as his permanent duty station prior to the effective date of that transfer; and (2) the expenses were not a necessary consequence of the discriminatory action, but a result of his relocation. Accordingly, the reimbursement was disallowed.