Case Law Update
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Conor D. Dirks is a Partner at the law firm Shaw Bransford & Roth, where he has practiced law since 2013. Mr. Dirks’ law practice concentrates on representing federal officials and employees in all aspects of federal personnel employment law. Mr. Dirks litigates cases in federal courts, and administrative forums such as the United States Merit Systems Protection Board, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Foreign Service Grievance Board, and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Mr. Dirks represents federal employees of all grade levels confronted with proposed disciplinary action, and also advises employees subject to federal investigations, including investigations conducted by Inspectors Generals, Congress, the Office of Special Counsel, the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility, or administrative investigations by the employee’s own agency. He has briefed questions of due process in federal court, and has years of experience with a wide range of legal issues arising in federal employment. Mr. Dirks also represents federal whistleblowers and has assisted many employees in successfully disclosing wrongdoing at their agency to the Office of Special Counsel or to an Inspector General, and in seeking corrective action for whistleblower retaliation.
In addition to his work on behalf of government employees, Mr. Dirks has successfully defended small and medium-sized government agencies against EEO complaints and MSPB appeals of agency disciplinary actions.
In law school, Mr. Dirks clerked at Shaw Bransford & Roth. He conducted legal research on a wide array of federal employment cases. He aided in the preparation of arguments for hearing before the Merit Systems Protection Board and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Mr. Dirks also served as a clerk at the High Court of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, where he updated and modernized the Marshall Islands Rules of Civil Procedure, the Marshall Islands Rules of Criminal Procedure, and the Juvenile Rules to reflect changes in the United States Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and electronic discovery practices. As a clerk at the high court, he helped craft decisions in cases involving government fraud, shareholder derivative actions, and family law, among others.
Mr. Dirks has also covered the Washington Wizards for the ESPN Truehoop Network since 2012, where he has provided NBA game coverage and long-form articles as a credentialed member of the media. His work has been featured and linked on a variety of major outlets, including Yahoo! Ball Don’t Lie, SBNation and ESPN.
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Michael J. Sgarlat is an Associate Attorney at the law firm Shaw Bransford & Roth, where he has practiced law since 2015.
Mr. Sgarlat provides legal representation to federal employees faced with a variety of employment issues. He represents federal employees subjected to administrative investigations, including those involving allegations of discrimination or harassment, personnel misconduct, or under investigation by an Office Inspector General or U.S. Office of Special Counsel.
Mr. Sgarlat works with federal employees to respond to proposed disciplinary and adverse actions, and he has experience litigating cases before the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. He also assists employees in filing administrative grievances on employment matters. Mr. Sgarlat has also represented individuals in security clearance revocation and denial proceedings.
Before he joined the law firm, Mr. Sgarlat represented private and federal employees in employment matters, including workers’ compensation claims, U.S. Merit System Protection Board appeals, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission matters.
While in law school, Mr. Sgarlat clerked for the U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, General Counsel’s Office, and assisted the office with employment and ethical issues involving its employees. Mr. Sgarlat also served as a law clerk for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, where he proposed the suspension and debarment of government contractors violating environmental statutes. In addition, Mr. Sgarlat acted as a Research Editor on George Mason’s National Security Law Journal and as a Writing Fellow in its Legal Research, Writing & Analysis program.
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Emily A. Shandruk is an Associate Attorney at the law firm Shaw Bransford & Roth.
Ms. Shandruk joined Shaw Bransford & Roth in January 2024. Ms. Shandruk brings years of state and federal litigation experience to the firm, including authorship of dispositive motions and coordination of discovery in complex federal litigation. Before joining the firm, Ms. Shandruk worked as a general litigation associate at Miles & Stockbridge P.C. where she practiced in a wide variety of legal areas, including products liability, class actions, environmental law, commercial disputes, and international family law. Ms. Shandruk began her career at Squire Patton Boggs LLP as a restructuring and insolvency associate attorney with her practice focused on litigation and corporate restructuring under the United States Bankruptcy Code
Ms. Shandruk attended The Ohio State University Mortiz College of Law on an academic scholarship, where she graduated magna cum laude and was admitted to the Order of the Coif. While in law school, Ms. Shandruk interned for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Civil Enforcement Division and assisted with agency briefings in connection with ALJ hearings. Additionally, Ms. Shandruk participated in the Ohio State Mediation Clinic and served as a student mediator at the Franklin County Municipal Court. In connection with her work as a student mediator, Ms. Shandruk also presented to the Supreme Court of Ohio on the benefits of implementing a virtual meditation framework to serve rural communities. Ms. Shandruk was also a managing editor on The Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law.
Ms. Shandruk graduated magna cum laude from the University of Maryland, College Park and earned a B.A. in Government and Politics and a minor in Rhetoric. While in undergrad, Ms. Shandruk interned for the Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing (COPS) office.
Case Law Updates
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Department of Interior OIG Finds Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights Lowered Discrimination Legal Standard and Inflated Timeliness Statistics for Final Agency Decisions
On September 26, 2023, the Office of Inspector General for the Department of the Interior released a report titled “The Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights Applied an Incorrect Legal Standard and Backdated Final Agency Decisions.” The report explained that the OIG investigated allegations that a former Director of the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights (ODICR) issued final agency decisions (FADs) containing unsupportable findings of discrimination and that the Director, Acting Director, Former Director, and Division Director backdated or ordered employees to backdate FADs to avoid reporting the untimely issuance of FADs to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).