Victory for Sherry Chen – MSPB Ruled the DOC Did Not Have Cause to Fire Her
Ordering the Department of Commerce to Reinstate Sherry’s Position
| Sherry Chen was an award winning scientist at the National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio and her work was used to predict floods and avoid loss of lives and property damage when she was wrongfully arrested and accused of espionage in 2014. Her life was turned upside down, only to see all charges against her dropped a week before trial in 2015, and yet her job terminated by the Department of Commerce (DOC) in 2016 for the same wrongful accusations.On April 23, 2018, the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) ruled that the Department of Commerce (DOC) did not have cause to fire Sherry and therefore ordered the agency to (1) reinstate her employment at the National Weather Service and (2) pay her back pay plus benefits. |  |
This is a significant milestone for Sherry Chen, for the Asian American community, and for the nation as whole, in our quest for equal justice for all people regardless of their race, color and national origin. It sends a strong message to those who have a tendency to stereotype, target and/or discriminate Asian Americans and other minorities – we all embrace the American values and contribute to the American society, and we have the will and capacity as a community to defend our rights as an equal citizen in this country.
OCAA has issued a statement urging the DOC to comply with the MSPB decision, and put Sherry Chen back to work immediately.
However, the fight for justice is not over yet. DOC initially had until May 28 to appeal the MSPB decision. However, they have applied for an extension to June 18 to prepare for a possible appeal. It’s simply WRONG for them to drag the process longer in an attempt to force Sherry to give up due to the mismatch of resources available. Click here to see what you can do.
OCAA has sent a letter to urge Commerce Secretary Ross.
- Comply with the MSPB’s decision immediately and allow Ms. Chen to contribute her
talent to our nation. - Ask DOC Inspector General to conduct a full investigation into the handling of Ms.
Chen’s case for possible racial bias, abuse of power, violation of due process, and lack of
efficiency.