Whistleblower gets Jury Award over $1 million punitive damages March 26, 2012
http://www.whistleblowersblog.org/2012/03/articles/whistleblowers-government-empl/terrorism/connecticut-jury-awards-over-1-million-in-first-frsa-case/index.html
White House making whistleblower advocates nervous March 14, 2012
By Joe Davidson, Federal Diary
Published: March 14, 2012
Obama administration officials reject charges that they are “trying to stop aggressive journalism in the United States by using the Espionage Act to take whistleblowers to court,” as ABC News reporter Jake Tapper put it last month. Yet, Tapper’s question during a White House briefing drew national attention to a growing sense of unease among whistleblower and good-government types who feel
President Obama isn’t fully living up to his billing, despite welcomed appointments to whistleblower-protection agencies.
Whistleblower advocates were cheered by this statement on Obama’s transition Web site about a month after he was elected:
“We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process.”
The cheering has long subsided. The government considers federal employees charged under the Espionage Act to be leakers of classified information, but that doesn’t convince advocates, who see the prosecutions as overzealous attacks on whistleblowers. “The Justice Department does not target whistleblowers in classified leak
cases or any other cases,” said Dean Boyd, an agency spokesman. The department does encourage employees to report government wrongdoing through “well-established mechanisms.” Boyd continued: “However, we cannot sanction or condone federal employees who knowingly and willfully disclose classified information to the media or others not entitled to receive such information.”
It’s valid to distinguish between leakers and whistleblowers, said Tom Devine, legal director of the Government Accountability Project, “but the administration is prosecuting both.” To the consternation over the Espionage Act prosecutions, add the Food and Drug Administration’s surveillance of employees’ private e-mail accounts and you
have two high-profile reasons for whistleblower discontent. “Obama’s Justice Department has sent a clear message of fear and intimidation by vigorously pursuing prosecutions of whistleblowers and so-called leakers, rather than the people whose misconduct was being disclosed,” said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight. Brian said the administration’s approach to whistleblowers “is almost a Jekyll and Hyde situation.” The Espionage Act and the FDA cases are one part of that split personality, and the Office of Special Counsel is the other.
Brian and other advocates praise appointments that have revitalized the Office of Special Counsel and made the Merit Systems Protection Board a somewhat friendlier place for workers. Both agencies play a key role in the protection of federal whistleblowers. But each agency is limited by shortcomings in the Whistleblower Protection Act, which groups have been trying to strengthen for more than a decade. “A lot of credit is owed since this was the first administration to testify in favor of critical reforms such as access to a jury trial and protections for intelligence and national security whistleblowers,” Brian said. “The White House was extremely engaged in helping to shape and pushing to pass the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act in the last Congress.” But since the legislation was defeated, “there has been a lot less visible effort to pass the reform in this Congress,” she said, perhaps because the White House’s “help hasn’t been needed yet in the Senate and has not necessarily been welcome in the Republican-controlled House.” If the legislative stall continues, whistleblowers will increasingly look for White House action. “The litmus test will not be administration effort within Congress,” Devine said. “It will be whether the administration fills the vacuum of congressional inaction to protect national security whistleblowers.”
In a National Action Plan on open government issued in September, the White House promised to “explore options for utilizing executive branch authority to strengthen and expand whistleblower protections” if Congress remains deadlocked. Taking a strong initiative on this front, by issuing a presidential directive boosting whistleblower protection, especially in national security cases, would be a major step in the administration regaining the confidence of those who work with whistleblowers crushed by Uncle Sam’s big foot. Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, wants Obama to demonstrate his bona fides “by appointing a whistleblower to run a program that he or she risked their career to reform or by restoring whistleblowers . . . and punishing retaliatory managers. “Setting just one prominent example would send a powerful message that would reverberate throughout the entire executive branch.”
Previous columns by Joe Davidson are available at wapo.st/JoeDavidson. Follow the Federal Diary on Twitter: @JoeDavidsonWP. © The Washington Post Company
Published: March 14, 2012
Obama administration officials reject charges that they are “trying to stop aggressive journalism in the United States by using the Espionage Act to take whistleblowers to court,” as ABC News reporter Jake Tapper put it last month. Yet, Tapper’s question during a White House briefing drew national attention to a growing sense of unease among whistleblower and good-government types who feel
President Obama isn’t fully living up to his billing, despite welcomed appointments to whistleblower-protection agencies.
Whistleblower advocates were cheered by this statement on Obama’s transition Web site about a month after he was elected:
“We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process.”
The cheering has long subsided. The government considers federal employees charged under the Espionage Act to be leakers of classified information, but that doesn’t convince advocates, who see the prosecutions as overzealous attacks on whistleblowers. “The Justice Department does not target whistleblowers in classified leak
cases or any other cases,” said Dean Boyd, an agency spokesman. The department does encourage employees to report government wrongdoing through “well-established mechanisms.” Boyd continued: “However, we cannot sanction or condone federal employees who knowingly and willfully disclose classified information to the media or others not entitled to receive such information.”
It’s valid to distinguish between leakers and whistleblowers, said Tom Devine, legal director of the Government Accountability Project, “but the administration is prosecuting both.” To the consternation over the Espionage Act prosecutions, add the Food and Drug Administration’s surveillance of employees’ private e-mail accounts and you
have two high-profile reasons for whistleblower discontent. “Obama’s Justice Department has sent a clear message of fear and intimidation by vigorously pursuing prosecutions of whistleblowers and so-called leakers, rather than the people whose misconduct was being disclosed,” said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight. Brian said the administration’s approach to whistleblowers “is almost a Jekyll and Hyde situation.” The Espionage Act and the FDA cases are one part of that split personality, and the Office of Special Counsel is the other.
Brian and other advocates praise appointments that have revitalized the Office of Special Counsel and made the Merit Systems Protection Board a somewhat friendlier place for workers. Both agencies play a key role in the protection of federal whistleblowers. But each agency is limited by shortcomings in the Whistleblower Protection Act, which groups have been trying to strengthen for more than a decade. “A lot of credit is owed since this was the first administration to testify in favor of critical reforms such as access to a jury trial and protections for intelligence and national security whistleblowers,” Brian said. “The White House was extremely engaged in helping to shape and pushing to pass the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act in the last Congress.” But since the legislation was defeated, “there has been a lot less visible effort to pass the reform in this Congress,” she said, perhaps because the White House’s “help hasn’t been needed yet in the Senate and has not necessarily been welcome in the Republican-controlled House.” If the legislative stall continues, whistleblowers will increasingly look for White House action. “The litmus test will not be administration effort within Congress,” Devine said. “It will be whether the administration fills the vacuum of congressional inaction to protect national security whistleblowers.”
In a National Action Plan on open government issued in September, the White House promised to “explore options for utilizing executive branch authority to strengthen and expand whistleblower protections” if Congress remains deadlocked. Taking a strong initiative on this front, by issuing a presidential directive boosting whistleblower protection, especially in national security cases, would be a major step in the administration regaining the confidence of those who work with whistleblowers crushed by Uncle Sam’s big foot. Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, wants Obama to demonstrate his bona fides “by appointing a whistleblower to run a program that he or she risked their career to reform or by restoring whistleblowers . . . and punishing retaliatory managers. “Setting just one prominent example would send a powerful message that would reverberate throughout the entire executive branch.”
Previous columns by Joe Davidson are available at wapo.st/JoeDavidson. Follow the Federal Diary on Twitter: @JoeDavidsonWP. © The Washington Post Company
Environmentalists and Whistleblowers March on Lisa Jackson, EPA Administrator
November 11, 2011
Washington, DC
Occupy Washington DC was joined by Occupy EPA, the first Federal agency to be targeted as part of the Occupy movement for standing down on clean air and retaliating against EPA employee whistleblowers. Carrying skull-crosses and wreaths that were laid at the EPA headquarters, protesters chanted "Hey, Hey EPA, we want clean air today," and "Lisa Jackson has got to go, hey, hey, ho, ho," as she peered down from her second floor window. The wreaths and crosses were placed at the front entrance of the Ariel Rios building that was surrounded by police. A memo was sent throughout the workforce alerting employees to the protest that was taking place between noon and 2:00 pm. EPA employees were noticeably absent from the protests, remarked a former employee, "I guess they are afraid of being retaliated against since that's EPA's modus operandi and there are alot of reporters and cameras here."
Jackson was ordered by the Obama administration to step down on the smog regulations of the Clean Air Act. On September 7th, Thomas McGarity, a member of the board of directors of the Center for Progressive Reform, said it all when he wrote, "If Jackson obeys the order (by the President), her action may not strictly violate the letter of the Clean Air Act, but it will violate the spirit of that statute. It will also be the wrong thing to do from a public policy perspective. Leaving the current standard in place will (according to EPA's own calculations) result in up to 2,200 heart attacks and up to 4,300 deaths per year. Jackson should therefore disobey the order or resign." A number of EPA whistleblowers said they wanted to ask Jackson if she were brave enough to join their ranks as employees who were retaliated against by her administration for protesting abuses, prohibited personnel practices, discrimination and violations of laws/regulations.
Lisa Jackson certainly has nothing to smile about as EPA's Administrator, a scientist, an environmentalist, and a woman. She was initially from New Orleans and eventually ended up in New Jersey where she became the Chief of Staff for former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, who is currently under investigation for missing clients funds, although it has been reported that he was able to find $500,000 that was slated for Obama's reelection campaign coffers. Corzine was a co-chairman of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and ran the MF Global Holdings Ltd into Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 31st, after regulators raised concerns that led to the discovery of hundreds of millions of dollars missing from clients. Corzine replaced his former Goldman Sachs colleague, Bradley Abelow. as his Chief of Staff by appointing Lisa Jackson. Prior to working for Corzine, she worked for 16 years as a staff member for EPA in Washington DC and the New York regional office. In 2002, Jackson joined the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and was appointed Commissioner of the agency in 2006. The Obama administration then picked Jackson to become the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
After joining EPA, Jackson pledged to focus on 7 priorites: taking action on climate change, improving air quality, cleaning up our communities, protecting America's waters, assuring the safety of chemicals, expanding the conversation on environmentalism and working for environmental justice, and building stronger state and tribal partnerships. Her track record to date has been absymal, not only for her environmental priorities, but her record on management and civil rights. In 2009, EPA came under fire for failing to process Title VI complaints under the Civil Rights Act. As stated by Circuit Judge Tashima in Rosemere Neighborhood Association v EPA, "Finally, we note that Rosemere’s experience before the EPA appears, sadly and unfortunately, typical of those who appeal to OCR to remedy civil rights violations. As indicated earlier, discovery has shown that the EPA failed to process a single complaint from 2006 or 2007 in accordance with its regulatory deadlines. .....Rosemere likely faces further delays from the agency and therefore has a "realistic danger of sustaining a direct injury as a result of" the agency’s disregard of its own regulations." Rosemere is a non-profit community organization in Clark County, Washington that works to improve the provision of municipal services in low-income communities, and has had a contentious relationship with the City of Vancouver, Washington over these issues.
Minority communities are often burdened by policies and regulations that have a disportionate impact on their health and environment because they are targeted by industries and factories that pollute the environment, which is termed environmental racism. Another one of Jackson's priorities is environmental justice, which is the fair treatment and involvement of people regardless of their race, color, sex, national origin or income with respect to the development and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies. She appears to have failed in that regard based on her administration's inability to fairly process Title VI complaints.
In addition to all of her other problems, Jackson's civil rights program were sited as dysfunctional and mismanaged. In addition to failing to process discrimination complaints timely (under Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act), the agency failed to submit mandatory reports to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for years. The agency has also been accused of retaliating against whistleblowers and for failing to take fair and appropriate action. Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, a leader of the Occupy EPA movement, recently published a scathing report of the corruption at EPA in her recently published book, "No Fear - A Whistleblower's Triumph Over Corruption and Retaliation at EPA." The National Whistleblower Center and other powerful organizations against government corruption and retaliation against whistleblowers showed their solidarity at the opening ceremony at noon on Freedom Plaza. EPA whistleblowers reported that EPA is ignoring investigations and findings against the agency that constitutes a misuse of federal (taxapyer) funds and abuse of authority. Four complaint of discrimination have been filed by women against the Administrator and current Director of Civil Rights Rafael DeLeon, a Jackson selection to replace the former Director who was removed. The current Director made sexist and racist statements against two former senior women by calling them "Pink Elephants" and "the EPA Rosa Parks." The marchers carried signs saying "EPA Rafael Must Go!!" with a website dedicated to him at www.EPArafaelmustgo.com .
More marches are planned against EPA, the next scheduled for Wednesday, November 16th between 12 noon and 1 pm from the Freedom Plaza Occupy Washington DC site. The Occupy EPA group will be joined by "Stop Mountaintop Removal and Keep Ison Rock Ridge Standing" protesters. Occupy EPA had supporters from other Federal agencies and Departments that included U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Commerce.
Washington, DC
Occupy Washington DC was joined by Occupy EPA, the first Federal agency to be targeted as part of the Occupy movement for standing down on clean air and retaliating against EPA employee whistleblowers. Carrying skull-crosses and wreaths that were laid at the EPA headquarters, protesters chanted "Hey, Hey EPA, we want clean air today," and "Lisa Jackson has got to go, hey, hey, ho, ho," as she peered down from her second floor window. The wreaths and crosses were placed at the front entrance of the Ariel Rios building that was surrounded by police. A memo was sent throughout the workforce alerting employees to the protest that was taking place between noon and 2:00 pm. EPA employees were noticeably absent from the protests, remarked a former employee, "I guess they are afraid of being retaliated against since that's EPA's modus operandi and there are alot of reporters and cameras here."
Jackson was ordered by the Obama administration to step down on the smog regulations of the Clean Air Act. On September 7th, Thomas McGarity, a member of the board of directors of the Center for Progressive Reform, said it all when he wrote, "If Jackson obeys the order (by the President), her action may not strictly violate the letter of the Clean Air Act, but it will violate the spirit of that statute. It will also be the wrong thing to do from a public policy perspective. Leaving the current standard in place will (according to EPA's own calculations) result in up to 2,200 heart attacks and up to 4,300 deaths per year. Jackson should therefore disobey the order or resign." A number of EPA whistleblowers said they wanted to ask Jackson if she were brave enough to join their ranks as employees who were retaliated against by her administration for protesting abuses, prohibited personnel practices, discrimination and violations of laws/regulations.
Lisa Jackson certainly has nothing to smile about as EPA's Administrator, a scientist, an environmentalist, and a woman. She was initially from New Orleans and eventually ended up in New Jersey where she became the Chief of Staff for former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, who is currently under investigation for missing clients funds, although it has been reported that he was able to find $500,000 that was slated for Obama's reelection campaign coffers. Corzine was a co-chairman of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and ran the MF Global Holdings Ltd into Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 31st, after regulators raised concerns that led to the discovery of hundreds of millions of dollars missing from clients. Corzine replaced his former Goldman Sachs colleague, Bradley Abelow. as his Chief of Staff by appointing Lisa Jackson. Prior to working for Corzine, she worked for 16 years as a staff member for EPA in Washington DC and the New York regional office. In 2002, Jackson joined the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and was appointed Commissioner of the agency in 2006. The Obama administration then picked Jackson to become the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
After joining EPA, Jackson pledged to focus on 7 priorites: taking action on climate change, improving air quality, cleaning up our communities, protecting America's waters, assuring the safety of chemicals, expanding the conversation on environmentalism and working for environmental justice, and building stronger state and tribal partnerships. Her track record to date has been absymal, not only for her environmental priorities, but her record on management and civil rights. In 2009, EPA came under fire for failing to process Title VI complaints under the Civil Rights Act. As stated by Circuit Judge Tashima in Rosemere Neighborhood Association v EPA, "Finally, we note that Rosemere’s experience before the EPA appears, sadly and unfortunately, typical of those who appeal to OCR to remedy civil rights violations. As indicated earlier, discovery has shown that the EPA failed to process a single complaint from 2006 or 2007 in accordance with its regulatory deadlines. .....Rosemere likely faces further delays from the agency and therefore has a "realistic danger of sustaining a direct injury as a result of" the agency’s disregard of its own regulations." Rosemere is a non-profit community organization in Clark County, Washington that works to improve the provision of municipal services in low-income communities, and has had a contentious relationship with the City of Vancouver, Washington over these issues.
Minority communities are often burdened by policies and regulations that have a disportionate impact on their health and environment because they are targeted by industries and factories that pollute the environment, which is termed environmental racism. Another one of Jackson's priorities is environmental justice, which is the fair treatment and involvement of people regardless of their race, color, sex, national origin or income with respect to the development and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies. She appears to have failed in that regard based on her administration's inability to fairly process Title VI complaints.
In addition to all of her other problems, Jackson's civil rights program were sited as dysfunctional and mismanaged. In addition to failing to process discrimination complaints timely (under Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act), the agency failed to submit mandatory reports to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for years. The agency has also been accused of retaliating against whistleblowers and for failing to take fair and appropriate action. Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, a leader of the Occupy EPA movement, recently published a scathing report of the corruption at EPA in her recently published book, "No Fear - A Whistleblower's Triumph Over Corruption and Retaliation at EPA." The National Whistleblower Center and other powerful organizations against government corruption and retaliation against whistleblowers showed their solidarity at the opening ceremony at noon on Freedom Plaza. EPA whistleblowers reported that EPA is ignoring investigations and findings against the agency that constitutes a misuse of federal (taxapyer) funds and abuse of authority. Four complaint of discrimination have been filed by women against the Administrator and current Director of Civil Rights Rafael DeLeon, a Jackson selection to replace the former Director who was removed. The current Director made sexist and racist statements against two former senior women by calling them "Pink Elephants" and "the EPA Rosa Parks." The marchers carried signs saying "EPA Rafael Must Go!!" with a website dedicated to him at www.EPArafaelmustgo.com .
More marches are planned against EPA, the next scheduled for Wednesday, November 16th between 12 noon and 1 pm from the Freedom Plaza Occupy Washington DC site. The Occupy EPA group will be joined by "Stop Mountaintop Removal and Keep Ison Rock Ridge Standing" protesters. Occupy EPA had supporters from other Federal agencies and Departments that included U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Commerce.
