Legal Briefs: Rental car rift

Every Friday on GovExec.com, Legal Briefs reviews several cases that involve, or provide valuable lessons to, federal managers. We report on the decisions of a wide range of review panels, including the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Federal Labor Relations Authority and federal courts.

Are you going to San Francisco? If so, heed the tale of Gregory E. Fife, and think twice about getting a rental car. Fife, an Environmental Protection Agency employee, traveled to City by the Bay for a meeting.

Before the trip, Fife heard a rumor that local transportation employees were on strike, and that area taxicabs were taking advantage by tripling their rates. Concerned that he would have no way to get from the airport to his hotel-the airport didn't offer bus service and he thought the hotel didn't have a shuttle service-Fife requested permission from his supervisor to rent a car. Permission was granted and the trip went according to plan.

What Fife didn't plan on was getting reimbursed for only $60 of the car rental fee, when the total actually amounted to nearly $200. The agency denied his claim because, they said, commercial transportation would have been cheaper.

Fife tried again, this time submitting a claim that included backup information. He included documentation from the Internet that said taxi fare from the airport to downtown San Francisco is usually between $30 and $35. The agency gave Fife $140 based on his second request because he had driven another EPA employee around in the rental car, so he was reimbursed for what that person would have paid in taxi fares.

Still, Fife wasn't satisfied. He asked the General Services Administration's Board of Contract Appeals to review the case, arguing the denial of his claims was based on personal opinion rather than fact.

GSBCA did take the case, and found in favor of the agency. While Fife made several assertions, he never backed them up with documentation to the board of appeals, the board judge said. No proof was provided that the hotel didn't offer shuttle service or that price gouging was going on with taxis in the area. In fact, the agency called the hotel and said it did offer shuttle service.

Ultimately, Fife should have at least attempted to get a taxi before heading straight to the rental car counter, the judge ruled.

Lesson: Rumors and allegations won't help you unless you can back them up with documentation.

Gregory E. Fife v. Environmental Protection Agency, General Services Administration Board of Contract Appeals (GSBCA 15042-TRAV), September 14, 1999.

Learn from the EEOC

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which announced new federal sector regulations in July, is holding one-day training seminars nationwide from early November of this year to mid-January 2000.

The new regulations will eliminate agencies' power to make final decisions in discrimination cases that are being heard by EEOC judges. Currently, agencies can ignore or reverse EEOC judges' decisions.

The regulations also require agencies to attempt to resolve disputes informally using alternative dispute resolution programs before formal complaints are filed. The new rules take effect Nov. 9.

EEOC is encouraging federal supervisors, employees, EEO counselors and investigators, and private attorneys to attend the seminars to learn about the new rules firsthand from EEOC trainers and staff.

For more information and to obtain registration materials, contact EEOC at:

• Phone:
  800-569-7118 (toll free)
  202-663-7071 (EEOC technical assistance program)
  202-663-7114 (TTY)
  
• Fax: 202-663-7014
  
• Web: www.eeoc.gov - includes a complete listing of dates and locations for the training.
  
• E-mail: eeo.training@eeoc.gov
  
• U.S. mail: EEOC Technical Assistance Program, PO Box 18109 Washington, D.C. 20036-8198