Brimer v. Navy

Summary

The en banc court held that the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act guarantees veterans and preference eligibles who are current federal employees the right to compete for merit-promotion vacancies open to applicants outside the agency's workforce. It overruled the contrary portion of the court's prior precedent and vacated the Board's decision, remanding for reconsideration of whether Brimer was denied an opportunity to compete. The court clarified that the right to compete does not exempt applicants from otherwise applicable eligibility criteria.