Velesa Draughn v. Department of the Army

N OTE: This order is nonprecedential.
United States Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit
______________________
VELESA DRAUGHN,
Petitioner
v.
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY,
Respondent
______________________
2024-1430
______________________
Petition for review of the Merit Systems Protection
Board in No. DC-0752-17-0527-I-1.
______________________
Before CHEN, L INN, and HUGHES , Circuit Judges.
P ER CURIAM .
O R D E R
Following this court’s February 22, 2024 show cause
order, Velesa Draughn urges this court not to dismiss or
transfer this matter, while the Department of the Army
urges transfer.
The Merit Systems Protection Board affirmed the
Army’s removal of Ms. Draughn, rejecting her affirmative
defenses that the removal was based on disability discrim-
ination and retaliation for protected Equal Employment
Opportunity (“EEO”) activity. Ms. Draughn seeks judicial
Case: 24-1430 Document: 10 Page: 1 Filed: 04/12/2024

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DRAUGHN v. ARMY 2
review of the MSPB’s decision and her affirmative de-
fenses.
“Because [Ms. Draughn] complained of a personnel ac-
tion serious enough to appeal to the MSPB”—here, her re-
moval—“and alleged that the personnel action was based
on,” among other things, “discrimination, [s]he brought a
mixed case.” Perry v. Merit Sys. Prot. Bd., 582 U.S. 420,
432 (2017) (cleaned up); see 5 U.S.C. § 7703(b)(2). “Judicial
review of such a case lies in district court.” Perry, 582 U.S.
at 432. Under the circumstances, we agree that transfer to
the United States District Court for the District of Mary-
land (where the employment action appears to have oc-
curred) is appropriate. See 28 U.S.C. § 1631.
Accordingly,
I T I S O RDERED T HAT :
This matter and all case filings are transferred to the
United States District Court for the District of Maryland
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1631.
April 12, 2024
Date
F OR THE COURT
Case: 24-1430 Document: 10 Page: 2 Filed: 04/12/2024

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