DECISION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The appellant, Patrick Rager (“Rager”), has petitioned the Board to review the Hearing Officer’s January 12, 2018 Order, which entered summary judgment in favor of the appellee, the U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms (“SAA”), on all claims alleging violations the Congressional Accountability Act (“CAA”). Upon due consideration of the Hearing Officer’s orders, the parties’ briefs and filings, and the record in these proceedings, the Board affirms the Hearing Officer’s Order in its entirety.
I. Background and Procedural History
Unless otherwise noted, the following facts are undisputed : Rager, a Caucasian male who suffers from Type I diabetes, was employed by the SAA in October 2013. At all times relevant to this appeal, he was employed as a Data Production Specialist (“DPS”) in the SAA’s Printing Graphics and Direct Mail (“PGDM”) facility located in Landover, Maryland. One of Rager’s primary job duties was to copy, scan, and print documents received from Senate offices, including Member offices and Senate Committees. The SAA and PGDM have established policies and procedures to ensure the security of these documents, as many of them contain sensitive and confidential information. These policies and procedures specify, among other things, that DPSs are not authorized to save any documents, whether personal or Senate office documents, directly to a production workstation, even on a de minimis basis.
SAA management repeatedly reminded Rager about this policy, including through verbal counseling in September 2016; in his written February 2017 performance evaluation; in guidance provided to all DPSs, including Rager, in April 2017; and again through verbal counseling in May 2017. In May 2017, however, the SAA concluded an investigation in which it determined that over the course of 15 months, Rager had saved 10,604 files, 52,070 pages, and 14 gigabytes of personal and Senate office documents to a production workstation in violation of policy. Citing Rager’s misconduct in disregarding supervisory instructions to not store personal or Senate office documents on a production workstation, his history with oral counseling and management coaching, and his disciplinary history, the SAA terminated his employment on June 7, 2017.
