[Appeal of Denial of Navy Employee's Request for Waiver]

A Navy employee appealed a Claims Group's decision which denied his request for waiver of collection of erroneous payments which resulted from the Navy's failure to deduct health insurance premiums from his salary. The Navy stated that the employee should have identified the mistake because it was discernible from his earnings statements. The employee argued that his inability to read the English language prevented him from noting the mistake. Regulations allow waiver of overpayments only when it is in the best interests of the Government and where there is no indication of fraud or bad faith. GAO held that the employee's language barrier made it likely that he did not understand or comprehend the information contained in the earnings statements. Further, due to the employee's small disability retirement payments, collection of the overpayment would have been an injustice and would have caused the employee considerable hardship. Accordingly, the Claims Group's decision was overruled and collection of the overpayments may be waived.