Ayyakkannu Manivannan v. Department of Energy

Whether a court of appeals must provide an opinion explaining its reasoning in an appeal that involves a complex and unsettled area of the law and in which a written opinion would likely provide the appellant with a viable basis for seeking rehearing, rehearing en banc, or certiorari.

Whether federal agency employees who disclose gross waste, mismanagement, or violations of laws, rules, or regulations are protected from agency retaliation only when they later can prove the disclosed misconduct in the Merit Systems Protection Board, where they have been denied any discovery and, “[a]s a practical matter, the agency has far greater access to and control over evidence.” Whitmore v. Department of Labor, 680 F.3d 1353, 1375 (Fed. Cir. 2012).