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Stephen Kohn comments to Washington Post about leak probes

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Richard Renner

Stephen M. Kohn Ed O'Keefe of The Washington Post is quoting Stephen M. Kohn, Executive Director of the National Whistleblowers Center, in a story appearing on today's Fed Page. Called, "Immigration agency assailed over leak probe," the story reports on criticism the immigration service is getting from the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 118. AFGE is upset that management at the immigration service is conducting a witch hunt for whoever leaked to The Washington Post an email about quotas for arrests of undocumented immigrants. The investigation has focused on an agent who has an Asian last name, apparently because the Washington Post reporter also has an Asian last name.

Kohn told O'Keefe that the backlash for President Obama on prosecuting whistleblowers is less than it would be since Obama is a Democrat.  "It mutes the criticism," Kohn said. Kohn also said that whistleblowers face more risk since the president has not yet appointed a Special Counsel to protect them. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif) told O'Keefe that he is calling on the president to appoint top leaders for 15 inspector general offices that still lack permanent leadership. Rep. Issa's letter is available here.

O'Keefe's story also mentions other whistleblowers facing prosecution by this administration.  These include Thomas Drake who used to work for the National Security Administration (NSA).  The article also mentions concern about the Internal Revenue Service failing to issue any whistleblower rewards, but neglects to mention Bradley Birkenfeld who is still in jail after delivering to the U.S. government information that helped collect $20 billion in unpaid taxes.

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AFGE local hot for WPEA corrections

Posted on June 15, 2010 by Richard Renner

Richard Renner, Legal Director for the National Whistleblower Center, spoke today with Local #1812 of the American Federation of Government Employees about the need for improved whistleblower protections for government employees. “The plight of federal employee whistleblowers is that they have fewer protections than employees in the private sector. The present system is broken, and we need to work together to fix it,” Renner explained.

Under current law, federal employees are denied the right to bring their claims of government misconduct in front of a jury. The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 forces federal employee whistleblowers to have their cases heard before an administrative agency such as the Merit System Protection Board, where federal employees’ claims are not fairly adjudicated. The National Whistleblower Center supports the HR 1507 version of the the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA). In 2007, House of Representatives passed the WPEA with a large bipartisan majority. It has still not passed the Senate. H.R. 1507 would give every federal employee the right to eventually have their claims heard by a jury.

This blog post was written by intern Kevin Heade.  Photo by intern Phil Shank.

 

The Senate's current version of the WPEA, S. 372, would be a setback for federal employees because of certain “poison pill” provisions. The poison pills in S. 372 include:

  • Repealing the FBI whistleblower protection law.

  • Agency heads of security agencies would be empowered to fire employees with no administrative or judicial review.

  • National security whistleblowers are denied independent review over retaliation cases.

  • A procedural roadblock that could deny any federal employee the opportunity to have a hearing or obtaining a jury trial.

“Our adversaries like to have power and not explain how they use it, while we want to see how the power is used and want to see them held accountable,” Renner told union members, explaining the Senate’s reluctance to pass the House version of the WPEA, HR 1507. “The National Whistleblower Center is a natural ally with unions in our common efforts to protect the rights of employees,” Renner said, emphasizing the utility of The National Whistleblower Center Action Alerts tool. NWC Action Alerts help constituents to impress upon their Congressional representatives the importance of strengthening whistleblower rights for federal employees while not allowing a change in the law to take a step back in worker protections. “The number of members receiving NWC Action Alerts has grown from around 2,000 to over 18,000 in the last four years,” Renner said, “and that number will continue to grow as we partner with unions such as the AFGE to demand that federal employees are guaranteed the rights they deserve.”

Local 1812 members were eager to get sign-up cards for NWC's Action Alert network. As employees of the Voice of America, they share from experience the natural consequences of speaking truth to power. You can join the NWC Action Alerts here.

 
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