Whistleblower Protection Blog : Whistleblower Lawyer & Attorney : National Whistleblower Legal Defense and Education Fund : Whistleblower Protection, Fraud Claims : Washington DC

Hundreds of Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) and their allies rallied today in Washington for the right of these federal employees to have union recognition. Union leaders remembered that many union members gave their lives in the rescue efforts on 9/11, took down the shooter at Ft. Hood, and defend our security every day as pilots, flight attendants and law enforcement officers.  Indeed, we would be more secure if TSOs knew they had protection on the job when they raise safety concerns against management.  The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), AFL-CIO, has just filed a petition to represent 40,000 TSOs, and is rallying support for HR 1881 to assure these dedicated public servants the freedom of association, speech, and petition for redress of grievances that are guaranteed in the First Amendment to the Constitution. Pictured here is Amanda Schroeder of AFGE Local 2157 in Portland, Oregon. Some attenders even signed up for the National Whistleblowers Center's Action Alert network to call for passage of HR 1507 and assure all federal employees a right to trials by jury in their whistleblower cases.

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Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and other politicians have called on the administration to review the cases of Robert MacLean and Spencer Pickard, according to a story in today's Las Vegas Review-Journal. Both MacLean and Pickard were fired by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) after going public about shortcomings in TSA's security plans.  Robert MacLean  criticized TSA for grounding all the air marshals, nationwide, during a security alert, to meet a budget goal.  Spencer Pickard criticized TSA for requiring air marshals to meet wardrobe requirements that made them stick out like sore thumbs.  Both cases well demonstrate why we cannot rely on administrative procedures where all the decision makers are appointed by the administration that is being criticized.  Both cases show how public safety will be enhanced if Congress passes the House version of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA), HR 1507, and allows jury trials for federal employee whistleblowers.

The Review-Journal article notes how the new administration promised last June that it would review whistleblower cases from the prior administration.  We are still waiting for the outcome of that review.

 

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Congress must enact real whistleblower protections


The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced today that it has entered into agreements with the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) and Office of Special Counsel (OSC) to permit TSA employees to appeal whistleblower complaints to the MSPB.


These so-called “enhanced” whistleblower protections for TSA employees are completely illusory and ineffective.  These new TSA procedures provide no more than the inadequate and completely dysfunctional whistleblower appeal rights currently afforded to other federal government workers. 


The OSC’s track record of protecting whistleblowers over the last several years is abysmal.  OSC rules for whistleblowers less than 3% of the time and the head of OSC is under criminal investigation for obstruction of justice. MSPB rarely grants whistleblowers a fair hearing.  Over the last several years MSPB has ruled in favor of whistleblowers less than 5% of the time, and that number is rapidly declining.


In March of 2007, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.R. 985, “The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2007,” by a bi-partisan vote of 331 to 94.  However, H.R. 985 has not been enacted into law and the most important “enhanced” whistleblower protections contained in that bill, such as the right to recover compensatory damages, de novo review and jury trials in federal court, have been stalled in the Senate.


Yesterday, both the House and Senate agreed to strong whistleblower protections in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.  Notably, the Consumer Product Safety whistleblower protections extends to manufacturing employees some of the strongest whistleblower protections in the country, including access to jury trials in federal courts with strong remedies, including reinstatement, backpay, compensatory damages, and attorneys fees.


It is about time for Congress to enact the same strong whistleblower protections for all federal employees (including TSA screeners) that should soon be provided to manufacturing employees under the Consumer Safety Product whistleblower law.

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