Putting A Damper On March Madness?

Updated March 6 to improve formatting of quoted section and add updated citation to GSA regulation:

It's no fun to be a spoilsport, but that didn't stop one agency from recently advising its workforce why NCAA pools violate government regulations, as follows:

First, regulations promulgated by the General Services Administration (GSA) bar anyone from participating in games for money or personal property, the operating of gambling devices or the conduct of a lottery or pool, while in or on property controlled by GSA. 41 C.F.R. § 101-20.306 [Nancy Baumgartner advises us a better citation is 41 C.F.R. § 102-74.395]. This regulation applies not only to Federal employees, but also to members of the public while they are visiting GSA-controlled property.

Second, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Government-wide Standards of Conduct regulations, contained at 5 C.F.R. Part 735, prohibit Federal employees from conducting or participating “in any gambling activity including the operation of a gambling device, in conducting a lottery or pool, a game for money or property, or selling or purchasing a numbers slip or ticket” while on Government-owned or leased property or while on Government duty. 5 C.F.R. § 735.201.

When read together, these authorities clearly prohibit gambling (including lotteries, football or basketball pools and similar activities) undertaken by [agency] employees while on official duty, while on Government property, or while using Government property including Government computers and Government vehicles, unless the employee undertakes the activity as part of his or her official law enforcement duties.

Under Federal common law, gambling is defined as: (1) the furnishing of consideration (betting something of value – usually money), (2) in a game of chance, and (3) that offers a reward prize – money or otherwise. FCC v. American Broadcasting Co., 347 U.S. 284, 290-91 n.8 (1954), and U.S. v. Tansley, 986 F.2d 880, 886 (5th Cir. 1993). An event that does not include all three of these elements is not gambling.

Violations of these regulations may result in disciplinary action, including removal from the Federal service.

Although Federal agencies may conduct fundraising activities for approved charitable organizations during the Annual Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) (governed by criteria established by the Office of Personnel Management), it is important to note that the CFC does not authorize gambling and that “[t]he CFC is the only authorized charitable fund-raising drive in the Federal workplace…. No other fund-raising drive may be conducted in the Federal workplace without the express written permission of the Director [of OPM] ….” 5 C.F.R. § 950.102(a).