B-142667, MAY 27, 1960
Highlights
WHILE YOU WERE EMPLOYED BY THAT DEPARTMENT IN MANILA. ALTHOUGH YOU HAVE MADE NO SPECIFIC CLAIM FOR MONEY ALLEGED DUE YOU FROM THE UNITED STATES YOU CONTEND THAT YOU ARE ENTITLED TO FOREIGN POST DIFFERENTIAL UNDER SECTION 116 OF THE STANDARDIZED REGULATIONS (GOVERNMENT CIVILIANS. THE LAST MONTH FOR WHICH DIFFERENTIAL PAYMENTS WERE MADE TO YOU. YOUR REQUEST WILL BE TREATED AS A CLAIM. THAT YOU WERE EMPLOYED BY THE AIR FORCE AS A LOCAL EMPLOYEE AT THAT TIME. GRILLO WAS TRANSFERRED TO A POST IN THE UNITED STATES YOU REMAINED IN MANILA WITH YOUR TWO CHILDREN AND CONTINUED IN THE SAME EMPLOYMENT. THAT FOREIGN POST DIFFERENTIAL AND QUARTERS ALLOWANCE WERE PAID YOU FROM THE TIME MR. GRILLO WAS REASSIGNED IN MANILA IN JUNE 1958.
B-142667, MAY 27, 1960
TO MRS. VERYL B. GRILLO, DAFC:
ON JANUARY 8, 1960, YOU REQUESTED OUR REVIEW OF THE ACTION TAKEN BY THE DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE IN DEMANDING REPAYMENT OF $662.17 FROM YOU FOR ERRONEOUS PAYMENTS OF FOREIGN POST DIFFERENTIAL FROM JUNE 1958 THROUGH MAY 1959, WHILE YOU WERE EMPLOYED BY THAT DEPARTMENT IN MANILA, PHILIPPINES.
ALTHOUGH YOU HAVE MADE NO SPECIFIC CLAIM FOR MONEY ALLEGED DUE YOU FROM THE UNITED STATES YOU CONTEND THAT YOU ARE ENTITLED TO FOREIGN POST DIFFERENTIAL UNDER SECTION 116 OF THE STANDARDIZED REGULATIONS (GOVERNMENT CIVILIANS, FOREIGN AREAS) FROM JUNE 1958, AND SINCE IT SEEMS THAT YOU CONTINUED TO BE EMPLOYED BY THE AIR FORCE IN MANILA AFTER MAY 1959, THE LAST MONTH FOR WHICH DIFFERENTIAL PAYMENTS WERE MADE TO YOU, YOUR REQUEST WILL BE TREATED AS A CLAIM.
YOU SAY THAT YOU ACCOMPANIED MR. GRILLO, A MEMBER OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES, TO MANILA IN FEBRUARY 1954; THAT YOU WERE EMPLOYED BY THE AIR FORCE AS A LOCAL EMPLOYEE AT THAT TIME; THAT IN JUNE 1956, WHEN MR. GRILLO WAS TRANSFERRED TO A POST IN THE UNITED STATES YOU REMAINED IN MANILA WITH YOUR TWO CHILDREN AND CONTINUED IN THE SAME EMPLOYMENT; THAT FOREIGN POST DIFFERENTIAL AND QUARTERS ALLOWANCE WERE PAID YOU FROM THE TIME MR. GRILLO DEPARTED FROM MANILA; THAT MR. GRILLO WAS REASSIGNED IN MANILA IN JUNE 1958; AND THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE DISCONTINUED PAYMENT OF QUARTERS ALLOWANCE TO YOU EFFECTIVE JUNE 1958 BUT CONTINUED TO PAY YOU FOREIGN POST DIFFERENTIAL THROUGH MAY 1959 AT WHICH TIME THE DIFFERENTIAL PAYMENTS WERE DISCONTINUED AND A DEMAND WAS MADE UPON YOU TO REFUND THE AMOUNT OF SUCH DIFFERENTIAL PAID YOU AFTER JUNE 1958, THE DATE MR. GRILLO RETURNED TO MANILA.
SECTION 116.2A OF THE STANDARDIZED REGULATIONS PROVIDES:
"A. AN EMPLOYEE WHO IS THE SPOUSE OF A PERSON EMPLOYED, STATIONED, OR RESIDENT IN THE AREA SHALL NOT BE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE A DIFFERENTIAL WHEN THE AGENCY CONCERNED DETERMINES THAT THE SPOUSE'S PRESENCE THERE IS PRIMARILY IN ORDER TO BE WITH SUCH INDIVIDUAL AND NOT FOR THE CONVENIENCE OF THE GOVERNMENT.'
SINCE THE DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE HAS, IN THEIR REPORT TO US OF MAY 12, 1960, AFFIRMED THEIR DETERMINATION THAT YOUR PRESENCE IN MANILA AFTER JUNE 1958 WAS PRIMARILY TO BE WITH MR. GRILLO, WE HAVE NO ALTERNATIVE, UNDER THE QUOTED SECTION OF THE STANDARDIZED REGULATIONS, BUT TO HOLD THAT YOU HAD NO LEGAL RIGHT TO POST DIFFERENTIAL AFTER MR. GRILLO'S RETURN TO MANILA IN JUNE 1958.
THEREFORE, OUR OFFICE CAN INTERPOSE NO OBJECTION TO THE ACTION TAKEN BY THE DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE IN DEMANDING REPAYMENT OF THE AMOUNT YOU RECEIVED AS POST DIFFERENTIAL BETWEEN JUNE 1958 AND MAY 1959.