Case: 23-2250 Document: 10 Page: 1 Filed: 12/14/2023
NOTE: This order is nonprecedential.
United States Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit
______________________
CASANOVA HAMBRICK,
Petitioner
v.
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE,
Respondent
______________________
2023-2250
______________________
Petition for review of the Merit Systems Protection
Board in No. DC-0752-14-0454-C-3.
______________________
Before PROST, HUGHES, and STOLL, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM.
ORDER
Having considered the parties’ responses to the court’s
October 3, 2023, order to show cause, we dismiss the peti-
tion for review as premature.
An administrative judge of the Merit Systems Protec-
tion Board issued an initial decision denying Casanova
Hambrick’s petition for enforcement. Mr. Hambrick there-
after filed a timely petition seeking further review of that
decision at the Board, and that petition remains pending.
On July 31, 2023, this court received what the court has
Case: 23-2250 Document: 10 Page: 2 Filed: 12/14/2023
2 HAMBRICK v. USPS
construed to be his petition to review the same initial deci-
sion.
This court does not yet have authority to decide this
case. In general, this court only has jurisdiction to review
final orders or final decisions of the Board, see
28 U.S.C.
§ 1295(a)(9); see also Weed v. Soc. Sec. Admin.,
571 F.3d
1359, 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2009), and Mr. Hambrick’s pending
timely petition at the Board renders the initial decision
non-final for purposes of our jurisdiction. See
5 U.S.C.
§ 7701(e)(1)(A) (providing that the initial decision does not
become final if a party timely petitions the Board for re-
view);
5 C.F.R. § 1201.113(a) (“The initial decision will not
become the Board’s final decision if within the time limit
for filing . . . any party files a petition for review . . . .”).
Two potential paths to this court’s future review are
available. First, Mr. Hambrick may wait to receive a final
decision from the Board on the merits of his petition, at
which point Mr. Hambrick may, if necessary, seek this
court’s review by filing a timely petition here. Alterna-
tively, Mr. Hambrick may file a motion at the Board to
withdraw his petition pursuant to the June 2022 policy
specified on the Board’s website. * Under that policy, the
Clerk of the Board may grant requests to withdraw a peti-
tion for review when there is no apparent issue of untime-
liness with the petition and no other party objects to the
withdrawal. When the Clerk grants a request to withdraw,
the order granting the request will be the final order of the
Board for purposes of seeking our review.
* Merit Sys. Prot. Bd., Policy Regarding Clerk’s Au-
thority to Grant Requests to Withdraw Petitions for Re-
view (2022),
https://www.mspb.gov/appeals/files/Policy_Regard-
ing_Withdrawal_of_a_Petition_for_Review_1515773.pdf
(last visited November 6, 2023).
Case: 23-2250 Document: 10 Page: 3 Filed: 12/14/2023
HAMBRICK v. USPS 3
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED THAT:
(1) The petition for review is dismissed.
(2) Each side shall bear its own costs.
FOR THE COURT
December 14, 2023
Date
