Smita A. Patel v. United States Postal Service

N OTE: This order is nonprecedential.
United States Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit
______________________
SMITA A. PATEL,
Petitioner,
v.
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE,
Respondent.
______________________
2014-3160
______________________
Petition for review of the Merit Systems Protection
Board in No. CH-0353-13-0477-I-1.
______________________
ON MOTION
______________________
Before P ROST , Chief Judge, D YK AND M OORE, Circuit
Judges.
P ER CURIAM .
O R D E R
The United States Postal Service moves to dismiss
this petition for lack of jurisdiction.
This court’s review of Merit Systems Protection Board
decisions is limited to final orders or final decisions. See
Weed v. Soc. Sec. Admin., 571 F.3d 1359, 1361-63 (Fed.
Case: 14-3160 Document: 8 Page: 1 Filed: 10/07/2014

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PATEL v. USPS 2
Cir. 2009); see also 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(9). After the
Administrative Judge issued an initial decision in this
case, Smita A. Patel filed a timely petition for review with
the Board which remains pending. The filing of that
petition with the Board rendered the initial decision non-
final for purposes of our review. 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 . . . .”). Because there is no final
order or final decision of the Board, this court currently
lacks jurisdiction over this case.
This order does not prevent Patel from seeking this
court’s review by filing a timely petition for review after
the Board enters a final decision in her case.
Accordingly,
I T I S O RDERED T HAT :
(1) The motion is granted. The petition is dismissed.
(2) Each side shall bear its own costs.
F OR THE COURT
/s/ Daniel E. O’Toole
Daniel E. O’Toole
Clerk of Court
s26
ISSUED AS A MANDATE: October 7, 2014
Case: 14-3160 Document: 8 Page: 2 Filed: 10/07/2014

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