Federal employment laws protect federal employees. They also ensure reasonable wages, safe workplaces and protections against discrimination for workers of all sorts. These include the people who work for companies contracted by the U.S. government. But you wouldn’t...
Whistleblower Protection
Whistleblowing and retaliation: What do federal employees need to know?
Federal employees enter their chosen profession for any number of reasons, but likely do so with the intent to help make our country a better place. This makes it even more frustrating when these same workers notice unethical or illegal actions within the workplace....
When is a whistleblower not a whistleblower?
The Biden administration recently released its roadmap for greater scientific integrity in government agencies. The response to the roadmap, however, has been mixed. Some appreciate the administration’s efforts to ensure greater scientific integrity. Others say the...
This MSPB ruling is good for federal contractors
Many people know that the federal government is the nation’s largest employer. However, the number of federal employees pales in comparison to another group – federal contractors. In 2020, the Brookings Institute explored the true size of the federal government. It...
OSC gets whistleblower VA doctor reinstated after retaliatory firing
If you see something, say something. This has become an important safety mantra of the times in which we find ourselves. Blowing the whistle when something is wrong is the right thing to do. Federal whistleblower protections Federal laws protect federal employees who...
When are collective or individual acts against a whistleblower retaliatory?
Today we look at a recent precedential Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) decision about federal-employee whistleblowers and retaliatory treatment. Now that the U.S. Senate has confirmed a third board member who began service on June 1, the Board is fully staffed...
Is this the age of women whistleblowers?
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...
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,...
