It’s no surprise that big tech sometimes oversteps its bounds. As megalithic tech companies explore every new way to mine data and make profits, they sometimes turn a blind eye to the public good. And when they do, sometimes people stand up to call them out. And...
Whistleblower Protection
Lessons from a whistleblower claim before the MSPB, part 2
In part 1 of this post, we told readers about the April 13 Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) opinion in Smith v. Department of the Army. The board found in favor of a whistleblower who had publicized that military morticians had sent her late husband’s cremated...
MSPB is back: DoD retaliated against whistleblower widow, part 1
We recently discussed the end of the five-year hiatus of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) with U.S. Senate approval of two board members President Biden had nominated. Two members present of the normally three-person board are enough to constitute a quorum...
Have you been victimized by employer retaliation?
The EEOC, OSHA and many other public agencies encourage whistleblowing. They want employees to let them know when their employers are engaged in dangerous, illegal or discriminatory behavior. But what happens after an employee blow the whistle on his or her employer,...
A spotlight on whistleblower retaliation in the Bureau of Prisons
The Bureau of Prisons is responsible for keeping prisoners locked away. However, it may have locked away much more than that. The Bureau has long drawn unwanted attention for its culture of secrecy and coverups, and new cracks have exposed a scandalous series of...
What should whistleblowers know before they act?
The government relies on whistleblowers to protect us from public health concerns, tax theft and abuses of power. For this reason, there are dozens of laws protecting whistleblowers from retaliation. However, many whistleblowers still find themselves unprotected after...
Prospective law seeks to provide workers with some protective armor
Acclaimed American author Joseph Heller is synonymous with the widely known phrase “Catch-22.” Legions of people are not only familiar with its meaning, but see its applications play out in very personal terms in their lives. Take the federal employment realm, for...
Commanding broad support: call for expanded whistleblower safeguards
The Government Accountability Project. The National Federation of Federal Employees. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics. The Project of Government Oversight. Whistleblowers of America. What does a list of entities like that – broad in itself, but supplemented...
Qui tam lawsuits: on behalf of the federal government
Not every working individual in the United States is routinely happy with what goes on at work, of course. Some employees are harassed by managers or coworkers. Others are discriminated against because of a core attribute such as race, gender, age, national origin or...
A continuing look at gag orders in the whistleblowing context
Know your rights. Don’t be frightened and intimidated by chilling actions aimed at stifling what you feel is important to say. And don’t “sit on information that could help your agency and your country.” Those words of advice are passionately conveyed by principals...
