FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2013
MSPB ANNOUNCES NEW SENIOR EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS
Chairman Susan Tsui Grundmann of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) announces three senior executive appointments at MSPB headquarters. James M. Eisenmann became the Executive Director of MSPB on January 2, 2013. He previously served as MSPB’s General Counsel starting in January 2010. Susan M. Swafford became Director of the Office of Appeals Counsel (OAC) on January 6, 2013, and Bryan G. Polisuk is appointed today as General Counsel.
Prior to joining MSPB, Mr. Eisenmann was a founding member of Kraft Eisenmann Alden, PLLC, a labor, employment, and employee benefits law firm established in Washington, D.C. Mr. Eisenmann represented Federal employees in cases before MSPB, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and U.S. District Courts and U.S. Courts of Appeal. He is the author of several articles involving Federal employee rights and the co- author of the book entitled Federal Employees Legal Survival Guide. He is a frequent lecturer regarding various aspects of employment law and has served in several capacities with the Labor & Employment Law Section of the D.C. Bar. Between 2001 and 2008, Mr. Eisenmann served on the Board of Directors for the D.C. Employment Justice Center. Mr. Eisenmann received a Bachelor of Arts degree from West Virginia University and his law degree from the Catholic University of America School of Law.
Susan M. Swafford, the new Director of OAC, has been employed by MSPB since 2001 and served as Acting Director of OAC since March 2012. She previously held the positions of Attorney Advisor, Associate Director, and Deputy Director in OAC. She also served as Acting Chief Counsel to Chairman Grundmann, and Counsel to former Vice Chairman Mary Rose and former Chairman Suzanne Marshall. Prior to joining MSPB, Ms. Swafford was an attorney with Thompson & Waldron and Mitterhoff, Henrichsen, Stuart & Bryton. Ms. Swafford graduated summa cum laude from Missouri State University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree, and received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
Bryan G. Polisuk joins MSPB as General Counsel after serving since 2009 as senior counsel to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, under the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. In that position, Mr. Polisuk was a counselor to former Senator and Subcommittee Chairman Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI) on a variety of federal workforce labor and employment issues. Mr. Polisuk assisted Senator Akaka in the drafting and passage of legislation, including the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012 and the Hatch Act Modernization Act of 2012, which were signed into law by President Obama in November and December 2012, respectively. Prior to working in the U.S. Senate, Mr. Polisuk practiced employment and labor law, litigating in the U.S. District Courts and U.S. Courts of Appeal, with Woodley & McGillivary in Washington, D.C., where he represented employees and labor organizations in constitutional and statutory matters. Mr. Polisuk received his Bachelor of Science degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan and his law degree from The Ohio State University College of Law.
In making these appointments, Chairman Grundmann stated, “Jim, Susan, and Bryan are taking on three of the most crucial roles at MSPB. They are highly qualified to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities presented to them in their new positions. I am delighted to have them on our MSPB team.”
Allegedly, “The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) is an independent quasi-judicial agency established to protect federal merit systems against partisan political and other prohibited personnel practices and to ensure adequate protection for federal employees against abuses by agency management.”
Unfortunately, it’s too bad the MSPB does not adhere to their charter, their oath of office and the law.
Based on my direct knowledge, the MSPB is, perhaps, one of the most corrupt operations in the federal government. Of course, the evidence to prove it lies in the MSPB’s own (win-loss) statistics and the fact that my reporting of verified PPP’s were willfully ignored by former Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Catherine Armstrong, her supervisor, ALJ Robert Carroll, and others in the MSPB chain of command.
As a former employee of the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), I refused to allow my name and reputation to be used to commit heinous and violent acts against women, sign off on fraudulent promotional certificates, engage in well-planned discrimination, egregious retaliation, sexual harassment, rigged investigations and more. Participating in harm to innocent employees (and their families) was not part of my job description.
For example, the former DCMAE, chief counsel, Bruce Krasker’s boast to my objection in the retaliatory frame up of a sickly, elderly Hispanic female in a case to which I was assigned, “We (the Legal Directorate) can do anything we want. It’s called gaming. We can deny, we can delay…dismiss. We can manipulate the system any way we want.” Stunning.
At that time, due to the overwhelming evidence that she was being framed, I thought Mr. Krasker would not get away with it by proper oversight and that his law license and job was in jeopardy. I was wrong, “gaming” and perpetrating a fraud on the court through long, drawn out unjust and unwarranted litigation is standard operating procedure and condoned by most government oversight. That seems to be their game and life’s work.
Based on my reporting, Mr. Krasker said I was not a good “team player.” In retaliation, Mr. Krasker’s deputy, Jerome C. Brennan filed false charges against me, one being that of “disloyalty,” which did not exist in the DCMA Table of Offenses & Penalties and a charge that the OSC investigator said was “a lot of bunk.” The rest of the story is staggering, but that’s for another day.
However, the MSPB does not act alone. Accomplice agencies include the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Special Counsel (OSC).
Despite the fact that the OSC had specific evidence to prove the DCMA’s crime pattern, Special Counsel Elaine Kaplan ignored my complaint. In my opinion, Ms. Kaplan is a terrific “team player.”
Despite the fact that EEOC Administrative Law Judge, Kenneth Chu had verified evidence in the form of my 30-page affidavit, which outlined a pattern and practice of prohibited personnel practices, well planned discrimination, egregious retaliation and more, supported by DCMA officials and subsidized by hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, his decision made certain that I did not return to my job as Equal Employment Specialist. In my opinion Judge Chu is also a terrific “team player.”
MSPB Chairman Grundmann stated, “Jim, Susan, and Bryan are taking on three of the most crucial roles at MSPB. They are highly qualified to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities presented to them in their new positions. I am delighted to have them on our MSPB team.”
Team players receive jobs, promotions. bonuses and awards. Truth telling in government results in severe retaliation and is hazardous to your health and the welfare of your family.
Based on the fact that the statute of limitations is still open in my case, the only question remaining: Which side of the “team” will the new senior level appointees be playing?
dougkinan@yahoo.com