A Charging Manual
By: Fowler & Vitaro
Price: $450.00
Edition: 17th edition (2025) with 2026 Supplement
ISBN: 978-1-956013-43-6
Availability: IN-STOCK
Samples: Table of Contents ------- Text Sample
Nothing is more important than the agency charge.
It is the driving force in an adverse action.
Appellant’s don’t win—agencies lose by mischarging.
MSPB Charges and Penalties: A Charging Manual is the bible on adverse action charges, charge drafting, proof requirements and elements, defenses to each charge, and penalties. This seventeenth edition offers in a quick, easy-to-master way, all charges, rules, applicable law, nuances, and tips to win. Part I is a close cousin to a military charging manual, listing virtually all charges, their nuances, elements and proof requirements, the prominent cases won and lost on each charge, as well as the pros and cons, pitfalls, and defenses on each charge. Part II details how to select and draft charges and how to avoid charging errors, including tips on how to use easy-to-prove charges. Part III covers the Douglas factors, penalty deference, how to make a penalty showing, and how to avoid penalty missteps. Both Parts II and III offer extensive discussion on providing clear notice, distinguishing between constitutional and statutory violations, as well as tips on avoiding common due process traps. A key feature of these two parts: each chapter provides at its start and conclusion Quick-Guides in bullet form containing the essentials and need-to-know nuances in that chapter. These comprehensive checklists are a must-know for counsel (agency and private), union representatives, and HR personnel. Part IV "How to Do It (In Real Time)" illustrates how to apply the tips and techniques explained throughout the book. And finally, Part V details affirmative defenses usually invited by certain charges.
Major topics include:
Introduction:
Charges, Penalties, and Affirmative Defenses
Part One—The Agency Charge
The Basics, The Essentials—Adverse Actions
Charges and Proof Requirements
Part Two—Framing or Writing the Charge
Substantive Charges, Procedural Charges, Guidelines and the 5th Amendment
It's This Simple—There is one charge: Cause as Will Promote Service Efficiency
"Specific Reasons"; Specific Rules
Charges—Different Charges, Different Parts, Different Rules, Different Constitutional Implications
The Specific Label Charge: Specific Label Rules are Due Process-Based!
Generic, Narrative Charges: A Cornucopia of Notice Issues, a Due Process Quagmire?
The Conjunctive Charge
Charge Framing, Charge Interpretation
Merger, Multiplicity of Charges, and Administrative Double Jeopardy
Notice; Due Process: The Alpha and Omega of All Charging Rules
Key Charges: Their Alternatives, Advantages, and Disadvantages
More Key Charges: Their Alternatives, Advantages, and Disadvantages
Special, Unique, Du Jour Charges—Conditions of Employment, Inability to Perform
Charges Du Jour—Teleworking; T&A in Swipe Time; Privacy and HIPAA Violations
The Indefinite Suspension Charge
Power Charging—Charging Down, Proving Up; Charging in the Alternative
Selecting, Drafting the Charge; Working With Proposing, Deciding Officials
Part Three—The Penalty
Penalty Basics and Fundamentals
Penalty Review and Deference
The Douglas Factors By the Numbers: Factors 1 Through 5
The Douglas Factors By the Numbers Redux: Factors 6 Through 12
Tricks of the Trade—Selling/Attacking the Penalty; Dealing With Deciding Officials
Part Four—How to do it (in Real Time)
How To Do It: Mastering the Basics, Applying the Fundamentals
How To Do It: A Closer, "Post-Grad" Look at the Nuances
Part Five—Charges and Affirmative Defenses
Charges and Affirmative Defenses
Table of Cases
Index
New in 2026 is an informational supplement, which updates the MSPB Charges and Penalties, 17th edition. The 2026 Supplement includes updated regulations, executive orders, and guidance. New case law (nonprecedential, precedential, and courts) is also included. The 2026 Supplement is included with a new purchase of the 17th edition or can be purchased separately.
Available as a softcover book and/or a PDF file with many useful features delivered on a CD-ROM, USB Flash Drive, or download. Hyperlinks allow the reader to move quickly between the Table of Contents and Index entries and the corresponding portions of the text. Internal hyperlinks serve as a cross-reference feature within the text. Major cases are linked to internet cites so that the entire case can be viewed.



(2026) A Guide to MSPB Law and Practice
(2026) MSPB Case Summaries
(2025) MSPB Case Summaries
(2021) Settlement Forms for MSPB and EEOC
(2020) Disciplining Federal Employees
(2017) Adverse Actions
(2014) Broida on MSPB Practice
(2003) Defending Your Case
(2004) Drafting Disciplinary Charges (download)
(2021) Adverse Actions and Performance-Based Actions