WASHINGTON -- A man fired for a lavish party in Las Vegas on your tax dollar now has his job back.
You may recall the scandal that surfaced last year about a four-day Vegas conference by General Service Administration employees in 2010. It was a lavish affair to the tune of $823,000 tax dollars. A $3,00 mind reader and a $7,000 sushi reception were just two of the expensive conference items. The overspending embarrassed the administration. Eleven people were fired, and 46 were suspended, warned or reprimanded. Another 300 employees were admonished.
But now, one of those fired employees, that government head accountable for the overspending, will get his job back. The civil service employee also gets 11 months of back pay. The board that protects those employees says he was not responsible for the event and the government went too far.
It's called the Merit System Protection Board, and we wondered what it is and what gives them the authority to order fired government workers back to work.
The board was created in 1978. According to its website, the board's mission is to protect federal merit systems and the rights of civil service workers within the government. The board makes rulings on appeals about terminations, suspensions or furloughs.
