Law Offices of William S. Aramony

07/29/2023

I have a client who filed a claim of discrimination and retaliation under Title VII and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regulations. The client's security clearance application contained certain information which an agency attorney retrieved and gave to the attorneys defending a claim of discrimination. The attorney did not give the information to personnel security officials. The client and the client's attorney were not told about the security application information nor that the agency had retrieved it for a defense....

I have a client who filed a claim of discrimination and retaliation under Title VII and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regulations. The client’s security clearance applic…

08/20/2021

Urgent request to house one to three Afghan pilots from Special Forces Association Chapter XI. The Pilots (100 total) cannot enter the US without a temporary home to put on their paperwork. The Pilots know English. All male except 3 or 4. If interested or have questions, please contact [email protected] (Not me) Please title your email with “RE: Afghan Pilots”.

07/30/2021

The U,S, District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has reinstituted its mask and social distancing policy. I expect other Federal Courts to follow suit shortly. www.vaed.uscourts.govALEXANDRIA ◊ NEWPORT NEWS ◊ NORFOLK ◊ RICHMOND 07/30/2021 MemorandumDear Counsel: Consistent with recently updated CDC guidance, the increase in community transmission of the COVID-19 Delta variant supports adopting a mandatory masking policy in our Courthouses and Court facilities for all individuals, regardless of vaccination status....

United States District Court COVID-19 poilict 2021

04/27/2021

Progressive discipline is the law, once more. On January 22, 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order (EO) 14003 (January 22, 2021). Section 3 (c) provided: “Executive Order 13839 of May 25, 2018 (Promoting Accountability and Streamlining Removal Procedures Consistent with Merit System Principles), is hereby revoked.” Also see March 5, 2021 Memorandum Office of Personnel Management (OPM) rescinding past OPM guidance concerning EO 13839....

Progressive discipline is the law, once more.  On January 22, 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order (EO) 14003 (January 22, 2021).  Section 3 (c) provided: “Executive Order 13839 o…

03/11/2021

If your criminal or civil federal case involves classified or certain other sensitive information, then check your federal Courts website for General Orders, of Standing Orders, concerning how to classify and file highly sensitive documents (HSDs). For example, I just received notice of an Amended General Order, concerning HSDs, from the United States Court of Federal Claims, signed March 9, 2021, and have been receiving such notices from other Federal Courts since February 2021....

If your criminal or civil federal case involves classified or certain other sensitive information, then check your federal Courts website for General Orders, of Standing Orders, concerning how to c…

09/25/2020

The below link discusses significant decisions written for the majority by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She had a significant impact. Also please note that significant civil rights legislation has passed before she took the bench. I have seem Facebook posts and public information about Justice Ginsburg's impact on law which confuses, creates ambiguity, or is incorrect, such as crediting her with equal rights created by statutes passed before she took the Supreme Court bench. [ 282 more words ]

civil rights, women rights, unequal pay

07/14/2020

United States Office of Special Counsel (OSC) advisory opinions dated July 10, 2020 address what is a partisan political group for purposes of the Hatch Act and whether the Black Lives Matter movement is a partisan political group pursuant to the Hatch Act. Numerous federal employees had asked OSC whether Black Lives Matter (BLM) or related materials raise any Hatch Act concerns when used or displayed while on duty or in the federal workplace. [ 345 more words ]

United States Office of Special Counsel (OSC) advisory opinions dated July 10, 2020 address what is a partisan political group for purposes of the Hatch Act and whether the Black Lives Matter movem…

06/26/2020

There is a new aggregation federal employee threshold for the reporting of gifts and reimbursements received from any one source on financial disclosure reports and a new threshold for acceptance of nonsponsor gifts of free attendance at a widely attended gathering. LA-20-04 is titled “Increased Gifts and Travel Reimbursements Reporting Thresholds for Financial Disclosure Reports and Nonsponsor Widely Attended Gatherings Gift Exception Ceiling.” This Legal Advisory discusses the recent amendments to Federal Regulations concerning the gifts and travel reimbursements reporting thresholds at 5 C.F.R. [ 303 more words ]

Federal Employee, Federal Ethics

06/15/2020

60 Minutes reports I thank a client for this link. 60 Minutes reports on the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) and its three empty Board seats and backlogs. Case backlog piling up for vacant Merit Systems Protection Board, protector of wrongly terminated federal workers. Nearly 2,900 cases for federal workers who may have been wrongly disciplined, demoted or fired are in limbo due to the three unfilled positions at the top of the Merit Systems Protection Board. [ 64 more words ]

60 Minutes reports thank a client for this link. 60 Minutes reports on the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) and its three empty Board seats and backlogs.Case backlog piling up for vacant Merit…

06/15/2020

From the U,S, District Court for the Eastern District, Alexandria Division, to be Effective Monday, June 22nd:

In an effort to reduce the amount of people in the building on any given day, the Alexandria division judges will be moving the regular motions dockets to different days while the coronavirus threat continues. Please see the schedule below for each Judge. Motions should be noticed consistent with the schedule below.

Judge Brinkema - Tuesday
Judge Trenga - Wednesday
Judge Alston - Wednesday
Judge Hilton - Friday
Judge Ellis - Friday
Judge O'Grady - Civil matters will be heard by teleconference on Friday beginning at 10:00 a.m. Criminal matters will be heard in open court on Tuesday beginning at 10:30 a.m.
Judge Buchanan - Friday
Judge Anderson - Friday
Judge Davis - Friday
Judge Nachmanoff - Friday

The photo is not related the Court schedule. It is remembering a good friend Dave Buckel, who passed.

06/05/2020

The National Defense Authorization Act ("NDAA" for Fiscal Year 2019 amended provisions of 5 U.S.C. 3330d, governing the military spouse hiring authority. “In accordance with revised 5 U.S.C. 3330d(b), the head of an agency may now appoint noncompetitively: the spouse of a member of the armed forces on active duty, the spouse of a 100 percent disabled member of the armed forces, or the spouse of a deceased member of the armed forces.” See Friday, March 1, 2019 Memorandum for: Chief Human Capital Officers From: Margaret M. [ 233 more words ]

The National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA” for Fiscal Year 2019 amended provisions of 5 U.S.C. 3330d, governing the military spouse hiring authority. “In accordance with revised 5 U…

06/04/2020

For local Alexandria businesses please note the following article: The article reads in part: "Eligible businesses are Alexandria-based with two to 100 employees with revenue losses of 25 percent or greater from the pandemic. Employees can be full-time or part-time but must have received a W-2 form." "Grant amounts are based on the number of employees. Businesses with two to 24 employees are eligible for $10,000, businesses with 25 to 49 employees can get $15,000, and businesses with 50 to 100 employees can receive $20,000 for 50 to 100 employees." Good luck, and wishes for your continued posterity. Call me if you need any assistance on employee or other legal issues.

COVID-19 grants Alexandria