Federal Employees

Stember Cohn & Davidson-Welling offers legal representation to federal government employees, including equal employment opportunity (EEOC) cases, appeals to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), and federal court actions based on violations of the U.S. Constitution and anti-discrimination laws. We also negotiate settlements and attend mediations for federal employees.

If you are a federal employee in Western Pennsylvania or surrounding areas and you have a federal personnel matter or question, your lawyer should be knowledgeable and experienced in federal sector personnel law and procedures. Although federal employees have basically the same statutory and legal rights as private employees, the rules and procedures for federal employees can vary greatly from those in the private sector.

Our clients include career federal employees at the Office of Veterans Affairs (“VA”), United States Postal Service (“USPS”), and Office of Personnel Management (“OPM”) who have faced discrimination, retaliation, and/or arbitrary discipline up to and including removal. Through zealous advocacy and a thorough understanding of the federal employment landscape, we have succeeded in halting removal proceedings, reversing proposed demotions, and achieving favorable outcomes for our clients.

Our attorneys have had considerable success in the area of federal retirement benefits, winning a consolidated appeal before the MSPB on behalf of 160 retired VA nurses who had been denied full retirement credit for their service. Many other law firms around the country had considered and rejected the case. We took it on, and eventually recovered approximately $15 million dollars in retroactive benefits for our clients, as well as substantial increases in their monthly annuity payments.

We currently represent a number of retired VA nurses in a class action that seeks to extend these enhanced benefits to all eligible retired VA nurses. In a case of first impression, the court ruled in favor of our clients and partially granted our motion for summary judgment against the Office of Personnel Management. In a subsequent opinion, the court noted that our lawyers “more than held their own against some of the most experienced lawyers the local United States Attorney’s Office has to offer, and then and most recently against” lawyers from the Department of Justice who are also “at the top of their profession.”

State and Local Government Employees

State and local government employees have the same rights as private employees to work in a discrimination-free environment. Like federal employees, they also enjoy additional workplace rights based on the U.S. Constitution and state laws that only apply to government employees. We represent state and local government employees in civil service matters and other administrative settings, as well as in state and federal court actions.

Contact our Pittsburgh State and Local Government Employee Lawyers

If you have a question about your rights as a state and local government employee, or for more information about how our attorneys can assist you, call (412) 338-1445, email us at info@stembercohn.com or fill out our contact us form to schedule a no-fee, initial conversation. Located in Pittsburgh, Stember Cohn & Davidson-Welling LLC handles a wide variety of government employee matters for clients in Pittsburgh and throughout Western Pennsylvania.