Federal manager settles First Amendment dispute

An Interior Department manager who alleged retaliation for being demoted shortly after his opinions on the agency's affirmative action program were published in Government Executive magazine has settled his case, the Office of Special Counsel announced Tuesday.

In October 1999, the Office of Special Counsel filed a petition with the Merit Systems Protection Board on Deane Zeller's behalf, charging that Interior's Bureau of Land Management committed a prohibited personnel practice by violating Zeller's First Amendment rights.

Government Executive published a letter from Zeller, then district manager at the Bureau of Land Management's Salt Lake City field office, in July 1996 (See "Letters," July 1996). His letter, in response to "The Great Divide" (April 1996), discussed his critical views of BLM's affirmative action program.

Other managers at BLM found Zeller's letter controversial, and BLM Director Mike Dombeck, now the chief of the Forest Service, sent a memorandum to all BLM employees saying that Zeller's letter was not representative of BLM's official position. Dombeck also sent a response to Government Executive, which was published in the December 1996 issue (See "Letters," December 1996).

The agency put a letter of reprimand in Zeller's file for using his official title in a letter involving a matter of personal interest. Zeller was then reassigned to what he called a "meaningless, dead-end job." Zeller's filing of grievances protesting the letter of reprimand and the reassignment with the agency were denied.

In its MSPB petition, OSC asked that the BLM officially retract its letter of reprimand against Zeller and give him a meaningful job, arguing that government ethics rules do not prohibit employees from speaking out against agency policies.

The case settlement is confidential, but OSC termed it "favorable." More importantly, the case underscores that "no federal employee should fear that they will be penalized on the job for expressing their opinions on controversial matters of public concern," said Special Counsel Elaine Kaplan.

The case is MSPB docket number CB-1214-00-001-T-1.