Having seen it for myself, I enjoy unearthing these federal workplace oddities. Have fun with these stories and thanks for spreading the word, but I just wanted to let you know that there’s no “woe is me” in this story. If anything, there’s “woe is America,” and “what else can you do but laugh.”

Take care, and I hope the rest of your extended week is enjoyable.

Charlotte corrected by statistics in the above blog entry. Here is the full text of her correction, sent to me by email:

The 15/67 was the number of judges that had issued any judgment in favor of the appellant at all. Most judges issue more than a dozen in a quarter, so if you can imagine that the 67 is really a thousand cases. . . and the fifteen is – well — probably fifteen.

Anyhow, here’s a link to a post with broad statistical numbers.

http://www.fedhallofshame.com/?p=299

Only 13 percent of cases are decided at all. Twenty-nine percent are settled, and the rest are thrown out for various reasons. Of the 13 percent decided, 82 percent are decided in favor of the Agency. From the total number of cases submitted, the percent decided in favor of the appellant is 2.4 percent.

I love this story — it fits right in with the theme of how I tell the Department of Labor that my boss is obsessed and delusional, and he goes and tells them that I’m “attracted to [him], her supervisor.”

Guess what DOL does next? They investigate whether I’m attracted to him. It’s true. And they even waste your taxpayer money hiring a contract firm to continue it after I’ve quit, because people who are attracted to someone demonstrate their attraction to someone by running away from them.

I guess me and this plumber and Socrates will get the last laugh however — at least according to your theory.