Workforce
New Trump Administration Strategy Leaves Fired Feds Seeking Recourse in Indefinite Purgatory
Select agencies are finding success in allowing firings to persist by arguing appeals board judges cannot legally issue rulings.
Workforce
Office Created to Protect Whistleblowers and Discipline Senior Execs Is Doing Little of Either
Trump has praised the office, but a new internal report shows it has recommended discipline in just 0.2% of cases.
Oversight
Watchdog: OSHA Had Trouble Processing Whistleblower Complaints Efficiently Even Before Coronavirus Hit
During the first four months of the pandemic the agency received 30% more complaints than during the same period in 2019.
Workforce
Federal Employee Protection Agencies Clash Over When to Protect Federal Employees
Special counsel says a judge at the Merit Systems Protection Board is setting a dangerous precedent that would harm federal workers.
Oversight
Lawmakers Look to Further Strengthen Whistleblower Protections
Bills in the House and Senate would ban federal officials from blocking employees from sharing information with Congress, prohibit retaliatory investigations and protect more workers.
Oversight
Advocacy Groups Press Congress to Support Pandemic Whistleblower Protection Legislation
This comes as Congress is working on the next massive coronavirus relief package.
Workforce
New Federal Workers More Likely to Be Fired After Filing Whistleblower Complaints
Between 17% and 69% of workers in their probationary period who filed whistleblower retaliation complaints were fired in 2018, GAO finds.
Workforce
‘I Was Met With Indifference’: Whistleblower Testifies on HHS Leaders' Response to His Early Coronavirus Concerns
Former vaccine agency director removed from position after speaking out implores Trump administration to let federal scientists "speak truthfully without fear of retribution."
Workforce
GovExec Daily: What Whistleblowers are Facing During Coronavirus
The Project on Government Oversight's Nick Schwellenbach joins the podcast to discuss the challenges whistleblowers see during the pandemic and beyond.
Workforce
Office of Special Counsel to Federal Employees: We’re Here to Protect You
As the office takes steps to protect its own employees, OSC has created a coronavirus task force to handle the rise in whistleblower disclosures and charges of retaliation.
Management
Agencies Can Launch Retaliatory Investigations Into Whistleblowers, Court Rules
Ruling sets a new governmentwide precedent.
Oversight
New Bill Would Strengthen Protections for Whistleblowers Who Expose Classified Information
The legislation would make it so that a narrower group of people could be prosecuted for revealing such information.
Management
VA's Whistleblower Protection Office Again Faces Allegations of Retaliation, Intimidation
New leadership promised changes after previous scathing reports, but employees say little has changed.
Management
Federal Employees' Settlement Agreements Can Expire, Court Rules
Agencies can cut off special accommodations for feds, including whistleblowers, after "a reasonable time."
Oversight
Whistleblower Advocates Praise Pick to Lead New House Ombudsman Office
The office will train congressional staffers on handling disclosures of potential waste, fraud and abuse.
Management
VA Secretary Looked for Dirt on a House Staffer Who Reported Sexual Assault in a VA Hospital, Complaint Says
VA chief Robert Wilkie called a House policy advisor’s assault allegation “unsubstantiated” even though an independent investigation found it was not.
Oversight
Interior Whistleblower Reinstated and Promoted as Part of Settlement Agreement
The Office of Special Counsel found that department officials retaliated against an employee after he reported insufficient environmental studies of Alaskan drilling sites.
Management
Justice Roberts Rightly Refused to Out the Ukraine Whistleblower
Naming whistleblowers in private sector investigations is illegal – the same protections should apply to federal employees.
Workforce
Whistleblower Protection Agency, Judge Clash Over Which Feds to Protect From Reprisal
A narrow interpretation of a new law could discourage federal employees from reporting wrongdoing, agency says.
Workforce