Board of Contract Appeals
                 General Services Administration
                      Washington, D.C. 20405


                          ______________

                          July 13, 2006
                          ______________


                         GSBCA 16867-RELO


                In the Matter of GABRIELLE MANCUSO


     Gabrielle Mancuso, Lexington, NC, Claimant.

     JoAnne Rountree, Supervisor, Travel Section, Financial Services Center, Department
of Veterans Affairs, Austin, TX, appearing for Department of Veterans Affairs.

DeGRAFF, Board Judge.

     As a general rule, an employee can be reimbursed for only those relocation expenses
incurred after the employee receives a written travel authorization or after the agency
manifests a clear administrative intent to transfer the employee.  

                            Background

     Gabrielle Mancuso was employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) in
New Orleans, Louisiana, when Hurricane Katrina struck in late August 2005.  In September,
DVA authorized its New Orleans employees to perform temporary duty assignments in other
DVA offices.  DVA explained the temporary duty assignments would be reviewed after thirty
days, at which time employees might be asked to go to other offices, based upon the needs
of the agency.  
                                 
     Ms. Mancuso did not request a temporary duty assignment to a DVA office outside
of New Orleans.  Her husband was going to begin work in North Carolina, and on
October 20, Ms. Mancuso asked for a permanent transfer to a DVA office there.  Instead of
approving Ms. Mancuso's request, DVA assigned her to temporary duty for thirty days at a
DVA office in North Carolina, effective November 14.  On December 21, DVA told
Ms. Mancuso it was going to approve her permanent transfer to North Carolina.  

     Shortly after DVA approved Ms. Mancuso's temporary duty assignment in North
Carolina, and before DVA told her it was going to approve her permanent transfer there, she
sold her home in Louisiana, purchased a home in North Carolina, moved her household
goods, traveled to North Carolina, and brought her family there.  When she asked DVA to
reimburse the expenses she claimed to have incurred in connection with her transfer, DVA
decided it could not reimburse most of her expenses because she incurred them before she
learned she would be transferred to North Carolina.  Ms. Mancuso asks us to review DVA's
decision.  

                            Discussion

     When a federal agency transfers an employee from one permanent duty station to
another in the interest of the Government, statute authorizes the agency to reimburse the
employee for expenses related to the transfer.  5 U.S.C.    5724, 5724a (2000).  In order to
be reimbursed, employees must meet requirements set out in the Federal Travel Regulation,
which says an employee cannot begin to relocate until the agency provides a written travel
authorization.  41 CFR 302-2.1, -2.2 (2005).  As a general rule, when an employee incurs
relocation expenses before receiving a written travel authorization, the employee will be
eligible for reimbursement only if the employee incurs the expenses after the agency
manifests a clear administrative intent to transfer the employee.  Connie F. Green, GSBCA
15301-RELO, 01-1 BCA   31,175 (2000).  

     Ms. Mancuso completed her move to North Carolina before DVA either gave her a
written travel authorization or expressed a clear intent to transfer her.  The expenses
Ms. Mancuso incurred were not due to her transfer to North Carolina, because by the time
DVA told her it intended to transfer her, she had already incurred those expenses and was
already established there.  DVA correctly concluded it could not reimburse Ms. Mancuso
because she incurred her expenses before she received a written travel authorization and
before DVA manifested a clear administrative intent to transfer her. 

     The claim is denied.



                                   ___________________________________
                                   MARTHA H. DeGRAFF
                                   Board Judge