B-238242.2, Jan 29, 1991

B-238242.2, Jan 29, 1991

CIVILIAN PERSONNEL - Relocation - Overseas personnel - Post differentials - Eligibility CIVILIAN PERSONNEL - Relocation - Overseas personnel - Quarters allowances - Eligibility DIGEST: Employee claims living quarters allowance and foreign post differential for employment in Okinawa following 13 years of private employment there after military retirement. We agree with the reasonableness of the determinations made by the agencies involved that the claimant's presence in Okinawa was not fairly attributable to his government employment. His contention that he was actively searching for government employment for a 13-year period is not persuasive in view of his voluntary residence in Okinawa, and his lengthy employment in the private sector.

Gaudencio Carangan - Claims for Living Quarters Allowance and Foreign Post Differential:

Mr. Gaudencio Carangan requests that our Office reconsider and reverse its decision, Gaudencio Carangan, B-238242, June 21, 1990, which denied his claims for a living quarters allowance and a foreign post differential on the grounds that the agencies involved had made reasonable determinations that his presence in Okinawa was not fairly attributable to his government employment. For the following reasons, we affirm our previous decision.

The record shows that Mr. Carangan retired as a member of the United States Navy on September 16, 1968, went to his home of record in the Philippines, and then chose to reside in Okinawa, Japan. He was employed in the private sector in Okinawa, Japan, from 1968 to 1981, a period of 13 years. From November 23, 1981, to April 17, 1988, he was employed in Okinawa as a civilian employee by the Marine Corps, Department of the Navy. On April 18, 1988, he was transferred to the Department of the Air Force, and subsequently he retired.

Under 031.2 and 031.3 of the Department of State Standardized Regulations (Government Civilians, Foreign Areas), a United States citizen hired locally overseas may be paid a living quarters allowance and a foreign post differential only if his presence in the overseas area is fairly attributable to his government employment, and certain other conditions are met. /1/

Mr. Carangan contends that after his military retirement from the Navy, he moved from his home in the Philippines to Okinawa in 1968 with the intention of finding a civilian government position, and that he continued to seek such a position until he obtained the Marine Corps job in 1981. Thus he claims entitlement to a living quarters allowance and a foreign post differential.

Our Office will not substitute its judgment for that of agency officials responsible for making determinations on living quarters allowances and foreign post differentials, absent clear evidence that their determinations were arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable. Shirley Oliveira, 69 Comp.Gen. 159 (1990); Wesley L. Goecker, 58 Comp.Gen. 738 (1979).

Upon our independent review of the entire record in this matter, including Mr. Carangan's various submissions seeking reconsideration, we agree with the reasonableness of the determinations made by the Marine Corps and the Air Force in denying Mr. Carangan's claims for a living quarters allowance and a foreign post differential. His contention that he was actively searching for government employment for a 13-year period and thus that his presence in Okinawa was fairly attributable to his government employment, is not persuasive in view of the long period of time involved, his voluntary residence in Okinawa, and his long-term employment in the private sector.

Accordingly, we affirm our previous decision denying Mr. Carangan's claims.

/1/ For the purposes of deciding this case, we will assume that Mr. Carangan has fulfilled these other conditions.