OSC praises case resolutions involving alleged retaliation against federal employees

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel on Wednesday touted recent resolutions to cases where agencies allegedly committed prohibited personnel practices against federal employees, including whistleblower retaliation. 

“Whistleblowers are crucial to exposing problems and wrongdoing across the federal government. But for whistleblowers to come forward, they must believe they will be protected from retaliation, which is at the heart of OSC’s mission,” said Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger in a statement. “I am very pleased with the resolution of these complaints and want to thank all the OSC attorneys involved….”

• The Veterans Affairs Department settled with an employee who alleged that “his proposed demotion was retaliation for reporting a significant number of unanswered patient telephone calls to a VA medical facility’s mental health crisis line.” The employee’s proposed demotion was withdrawn, and he received 97 hours of restored sick leave and $10,000 in compensatory damages. 
• OSC determined that VA committed a prohibited personnel practice against an employee who alleged that he was “removed during his probationary period for engaging in a protected grievance process.” The department and individual settled, with the employee receiving a clean record and $175,000 in back pay and damages. 
• The Air Force settled with an employee who made protected disclosures regarding lab safety issues, participated in an inspector general investigation and filed an equal employment opportunity complaint. The individual said they were retaliated against by being reassigned, subjected to a hostile work environment and receiving a lowered performance evaluation. The Air Force agreed to pay the individual $47,000, raise their performance evaluation and expunge management files with derogatory information. 
• OSC concluded that an unspecified agency violated the Family Medical Leave Act after an employee alleged the agency didn’t provide her with a promotion that she was eligible for in retaliation for taking leave. The agency agreed to provide the individual with a retroactive promotion and backpay, conduct FMLA training and change its promotion guidance to clarify that taking leave cannot be used as a negative factor. 

Merit Systems Protection Board Chairman Cathy Harris on Monday announced that most petitions for corrective action filed by OSC with respect to prohibited personnel practices will be handled by MSPB chief administrative judges rather than such judges from other agencies under interagency agreements. 

“By assigning corrective action cases to our own chief administrative judges, this change will result in both cost-savings and expert attention to these critical cases,” Harris said in a statement. 

Dellinger also backed the change. 

“I thank MSPB for undertaking this thoughtful procedural update. These types of cases are some of the most time- and resource-intensive complaints OSC handles. Protecting federal employees and whistleblowers from retaliation and other PPPs is at the heart of OSC’s mission,” he said in a statement.