Harrow v. Department of Defense

Stuart Harrow, an employee of the Department of Defense, was furloughed for six days in 2013 due to sequestration. He did not immediately appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). In 2017, after learning the furlough would reduce his retirement benefits, he filed an appeal. The MSPB dismissed it as untimely, finding the 30-day deadline jurisdictional. The Federal Circuit affirmed. On May 16, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed, holding the 30-day filing deadline is a claim-processing rule, not a jurisdictional bar, and may be equitably tolled. The case was remanded for further proceedings.

The Supreme Court unanimously held that the deadline is not jurisdictional and can be equitably tolled, reversing the Federal Circuit and remanding the case.

Whether the 30-day statutory deadline for a federal employee to appeal an adverse personnel action to the Merit Systems Protection Board is a jurisdictional requirement or a claim-processing rule that can be equitably tolled.

The ruling provides greater flexibility for federal employees to pursue late administrative appeals when equitable grounds exist, potentially affecting many similar cases involving delayed discovery of harm.