[Decision Concerning Former IRS Employee's Request For Indebtedness Waiver]

An Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employee requested a waiver of his obligation to repay IRS for sick leave he used after IRS abolished his position, contending that his indebtedness was due to a series of agency errors. GAO noted that the employee was on sick leave until he applied for a discontinued-service retirement. The employee then received a lump-sum retroactive annuity payment, which resulted in a double payment for the period he was receiving sick leave. GAO held that there was no indication of any fault, misrepresentation, or lack of good faith on the employee's part. Accordingly, a waiver was granted for the difference between the salary he received in the form of sick leave and the retroactive annuity payments he received for the same period and was denied for the amount of sick leave that the annuity payment duplicated.