INS whistleblower settles for relocation to Hawaii

A manager who charged the Immigration and Naturalization Service with whistleblower retaliation has settled his case in return for a new job in Hawaii and a $30,000 lump sum payment.

Neil Jacobs, assistant district director for investigations at the INS Dallas office, will have his relocation expenses paid and be given a position at his current grade and pay levels in INS' Hawaii District Office. In agreeing to a settlement arranged by the Office of Special Counsel, which investigates allegations of whistleblower retaliation, the INS admitted no wrongdoing. But in Jacobs' official record, a 21-day suspension he received will be reduced to two days.

"Although INS felt the agency had grounds to suspend Mr. Jacobs, the agency agreed to a settlement with the Office of Special Counsel in order to resolve this case and end the cost of litigation and use of taxpayer dollars," the INS said in a statement. "INS has made it possible for Mr. Jacobs to continue his career with the agency in a non-supervisory position."

The INS said it demoted and suspended Jacobs for 21 days in October 1998 in response to subordinates' allegations of discrimination against him. Jacobs contended the demotion and suspension were in retaliation for testimony he gave before Congress charging the agency with naturalizing immigrants without completing proper background checks.

Three years earlier, in 1995, Jacobs' office won a Ford Foundation Award for Innovations in American Government. In March 1996, Vice President Al Gore singled out Jacobs for praise at a "Reinvention Revolution" conference for making INS investigations of companies less confrontational.

But six months after being praised by Gore, Jacobs testified before a House panel, charging that the Dallas INS office was processing naturalization applications without sending any to his office for background checks.

In November 1998, the Merit Systems Protection Board granted a stay of Jacobs' demotion to allow the Office of Special Counsel time to investigate the case. "Our investigation uncovered significant evidence that the personnel actions INS subsequently took against Mr. Jacobs were in retaliation for his congressional testimony," Special Counsel Elaine Kaplan said.

But INS, in its statement, emphasized that the settlement "does not clear Mr. Jacobs of all charges of misconduct, and a suspension due to misconduct remains in his record."