FA with "FAFO" and FO

A short excerpt from the long opinion in Barlow v. Dep't of Navy, decided Sept. 11 by Merit Systems Protection Board Administrative Judge Scott Borrowman: On October 29, 2025, shortly after the appellant returned from [a 14-day suspension for "Failure to Enter Accurate Time & Attendance, Lack of Candor, and Disrespectful Conduct"] the suspension, Alger [the appellant's second-level supervisor] noticed a picture of a "red wolf" in the office across the hallway, and when he looked at it, the picture had the text: "After giving it careful thought, I have decided to become worse." When he turned around, he noticed "various writing" on the whiteboard that "in the past had been sterile." Alger indicated the wall was previously bare. Alger took a picture of the wolf poster. He also took a picture of the whiteboard in the appellant's office. In the upper left corner is the following text: "get fired, get in trouble, be brave, never stop fighting!" There is what appears to be a printout with the following text: "Behold the field in which I grow my fucks. Lay thine eyes upon it and thou shalt see that it is barren." In the middle-consuming around 70% of the surface-is written: "FAFO!" The initial F has the word "fuck" written many times—Alger counted 25—mingled with scribbles…. The A includes "around" several times. The second F has the word "find" written several times. The terminal O has the word "out" written several times. The remainder of the whiteboard included 6 photographs, some numbers of unclear meaning, and something not fully legible in the right bottom corner. Alger had participated in the suspension proceedings and believed that the information warranted reporting a potential insider threat, so he forwarded the information to G.S., his immediate supervisor, human resources, legal, and security departments. In his close-of-record declaration, Alger stated that he was not often in the appellant's office but recalled that it usually had very few personal items, was neat, and had "a professional and almost sterile feel." The images he now saw struck him as unusual. He believed the overall display "felt manic and obsessive" and while each statement by itself may not have been concerning, together, he was alarmed and thought the display was "an aggressive taunt at a minimum, and at the high end, a direct threat to [the appellant's] chain of command." He felt obligated to report a potential threat or potential risk of workplace violence…. [In the course of the investigation, t]he appellant told Sodl [the investigator] that FAFO meant "fool around and find out" and that "we are done with that shit" was a quote from Pete Hegseth, which the appellant thought meant that the military was: "[D]one with that shit. All that woke shit in the military that makes me want to puke. I put the quote on the wall because it is inspiring to me." He told Sodl that the whiteboard was only for his own use and not intended for anyone else. He had put the language up earlier, around the time that Charlie Kirk was killed in September 2025. The appellant told Sodl that the numbers on the whiteboard referred to "the number of times I have had to take a shit at work because of the stress," and indicated that he was experiencing high blood pressure, vertigo, and intestinal distress. When asked about the wolf poster—which the appellant referred to as the Shiba Inu known in various memes—the appellant referred to a recent low performance rating, and thought "yeah I'm a piece of crap so I will continue being a piece of crap. IF that's what you think of me, then okay, alright, do your worse [sic]." The administrative judge held that this was an "inappropriate display," which could (together with another charge) lead to discipline, though only a 30-day suspension: I begin with the whiteboard and FAFO. I conclude that this was inappropriate for an office. While I accept that it was oriented towards the appellant and not the hallway, it would still be visible to anyone who entered the office. Moreover, it consumed the majority of the appellant's whiteboard. The meaning is objectively aggressive, though how aggressive depends on context. The appellant pointed out that on September 30, 2025, Secretary Hegseth gave a speech in which he used the initialism, which he required all personnel watch or read. Winslow [a department head who had reviewed the proposed disciplinary action] acknowledged that Hegseth had used the term but concluded that "the context of use is important," and Hegseth used the term as a "threat to our enemies" and that the appellant spelled out the word "fuck" multiple times. On this point, in the response to the proposal, the appellant wrote that he used an erasable marker and "the number of times 'fuck' appeared has not independent meaning." In his close-of-record brief, the appellant argued that "the word 'fuck' was not written even one time." Zooming in on the picture, the word "fuck" is clearly visible but covered with scribbles. Considering the full record, this was inappropriate for a government office. The other images were less aggressive but still present an overall effect that is inconsistent with the normal standards that apply to office decorations because they suggest hostility towards coworkers. Specifically, the wolf/dog image suggests that the appellant "decided to become worse," while the image about "the field in which I grow my fucks" suggests that the appellant does not care about feedback. I accept the appellant's statement that he did not intend to "threaten, intimidate, or harass any individual." However, applying an objective analysis, the displays were inconsistent with the usual standards for appropriate displays and decoration in a professional office….