This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

In October 2007 the Social Security Administration's chief administrative law judge, D, issued a directive setting as a 'goal' for the administrative law judges that each one 'manage their docket in such a way that they will be able to issue 500-700 legally sufficient decisions each year.' Fifty-six percent of the administrative law judges were deciding fewer than 500 cases a year. Although it is described as a goal, P's claim in their 37-page, 126-paragraph complaint that D has taken formal and informal disciplinary measures to enforce it so that it is in effect an enforceable and enforced quota. D's goal is to reduce the backlog of disability cases. The district court held that the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 precludes Ps' resort to the Administrative Procedure Act. The Civil Service Reform Act creates remedies for 'prohibited personnel practices' taken against federal employees, and defines 'personnel practices' to include 'significant change in duties, responsibilities, or working conditions.' 5 U.S.C. §§ 2302(a)(1), (2)(A)(xii), (b). The district judge ruled that Ps were alleging a 'significant change in duties, responsibilities, or working conditions,' and if this is correct, their exclusive remedy is under the Civil Service Reform Act. Ps appealed.

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