Julio Guerra v. Department of Veterans Affairs

N OTE: This order is nonprecedential.
United States Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit
______________________
JULIO GUERRA,
Petitioner
v.
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS,
Respondent
______________________
2025-1130
______________________
Petition for review of the Merit Systems Protection
Board in No. SF-0752-23-0214-I-1.
______________________
Before T ARANTO, WALLACH , and CUNNINGHAM , Circuit
Judges.
P ER CURIAM .
O R D E R
Julio Guerra petitions for review of the Merit Systems
Protection Board’s dismissal of his removal appeal. Be-
cause Mr. Guerra raised discrimination claims before the
Board and his submissions indicate a desire to pursue
those claims, the court directed the parties to show cause
as to why the case should not be transferred. In response,
Mr. Guerra requests that this court “review the issues
within its jurisdiction” and transfer “matters beyond the
Case: 25-1130 Document: 18 Page: 1 Filed: 04/16/2025

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GUERRA v. DVA 2
Federal Circuit’s jurisdiction, including claims of discrimi-
nation, . . . to an appropriate U.S. District Court.” ECF No.
16 at 1. The agency urges transfer of the entire case to the
United States District Court for the Western District of
Washington. We agree with the agency.
Federal district courts, not this court, have jurisdiction
over “[c]ases of discrimination subject to the provisions of
[5 U.S.C. §] 7702,” 5 U.S.C. § 7703(b)(2), which involve an
allegation of an action appealable to the Board and an al-
legation that a basis for the action was covered discrimina-
tion, § 7702. Perry v. Merit Sys. Prot. Bd., 582 U.S. 420,
437 (2017). Here, Mr. Guerra alleged that his removal was
based, at least in part, on covered discrimination such that
his case belongs in district court, not in this court. Mr.
Guerra may not split his claims between this court and an-
other court. See Williams v. Dep’t of the Army, 715 F.2d
1485, 1490 (Fed. Cir. 1983) (en banc) (“Congress did not di-
rect or contemplate bifurcated review” of these types of
cases because claims of adverse action and discrimination
“will be two sides of the same question and must be consid-
ered together.” (citation omitted)); see also Tolliver v.
Deniro, 790 F.2d 1394, 1396 (9th Cir. 1986). Under the cir-
cumstances, transfer to the Western District of Washing-
ton, where the employment action appears to have
occurred and where Mr. Guerra appears to reside, is appro-
priate. 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 Western District of
Case: 25-1130 Document: 18 Page: 2 Filed: 04/16/2025

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GUERRA v. DVA 3
Washington pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1631.
April 16, 2025
Date
F OR THE COURT
Case: 25-1130 Document: 18 Page: 3 Filed: 04/16/2025

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