Office of Special Counsel

US Air Force commander punished for retaliating against whistleblowers

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Craig Whitlock – May 21, 2012

The Air Force said Monday that it had fined the former commander of the Dover Air Force Base mortuary $7,000 and suspended his top deputy for 20 days without pay for retaliating against whistleblowers, but it allowed both men to keep their jobs.

The punishment came in response to an independent federal investigation that concluded the mortuary’s leadership had wrongfully tried to fire two subordinates after they reported missing body parts, lax management and other problems at the base that handles America’s war dead.

US government watchdog blasts FAA over air safety

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Bart Jansen – May 8, 2012

The government's special counsel Tuesday urged stronger air safety oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration after investigating a series of problems laid out by whistle-blowers in recent years, including air-traffic controllers sleeping on the job.

"The public properly expects zero tolerance for unnecessary risks," said Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner, whose independent office reviews whistle-blower complaints and protects them.

USA Top Whistleblower Cop Recommends Punishment for Retaliation

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Dana Liebelson – February 2, 2012

The Air Force may have failed to properly investigate and punish those responsible for the gruesome negligence at Port Mortuary – but fortunately, there's a new sheriff in town: Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner.

On Tuesday, her office presented the Air Force with a report concluding that Port Mortuary officials retaliated against the whistleblowers, and should receive appropriate disciplinary action for violating the Whistleblower Protection Act.

Tough Task Of Protecting America's Whistleblowers

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January 5, 2012

Carolyn Lerner is hoping to bring the U.S. Office of Special Counsel out of its many years of obscurity within the federal government. The OSC aims to protect whistleblowers, eliminate government waste and protect federal workers from discrimination.

National Public Radio host Michel Martin speaks with Lerner, who's been heading OSC for six months.

US whistleblower watchdog quickly raises the profile of her office

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Carolyn Lerner

Lisa Rein – December 25, 2011

Carolyn Lerner had the Air Force’s top four-star general boxed in. Gen. Norton Schwartz was reeling from revelations that the Dover Air Force Base mortuary had lost and sawed off body parts and mishandled other remains of America’s war dead.

In the glare of television cameras, the Air Force chief of staff was forced to issue mea culpas for the scandal in November. Lerner, the newly installed federal lawyer whose tiny office uncovered the gruesome findings, was ready for a fight.

US Government Whistle-Blowers Gain New Advocate

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Carolyn Lerner

Carrie Johnson – November 22, 2011

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel is one of those small corners of the government with an important mission: It's supposed to help protect federal whistle-blowers and shield civil service workers from politics.

But during the Bush years, the office was engulfed in scandal. It was raided by FBI agents, and its chief was indicted for obstructing justice. It's into that unsettled environment that the new leader, Carolyn Lerner, arrived five months ago. And good government groups say she's already taking the office in new directions.

Pentagon Whistleblower Suffered Years of Retaliation, OSC Says

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Diem-Thi Le

Nick Schwellenbach – November 9, 2011

A senior auditor with the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) was subjected to years of reprisal in violation of the Whistleblower Protection Act after she blew the whistle on flawed audits produced by DCAA, according to an April 2010 Office of Special Counsel (OSC) investigative report obtained by POGO.

According to a press release issued Friday, DCAA has made several corrective actions in response to the OSC report substantiating that the auditor was retaliated against. The auditor, Diem Thi Le, works in DCAA’s Santa Ana, California branch office.

Calls For Release Of Investigation Findings On US Whistleblower Watchdog

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Shanna Devine – November 2, 2011

Yesterday, the law firm of Katz, Marshall and Banks (KMB) upped its pressure on the government to immediately release the findings from an investigation into alleged misconduct at U.S. Office of Special Counsel – the federal agency charged with upholding the rights of federal whistleblowers – under former Special Counsel Scott Bloch's tenure. The investigation concluded nearly four years ago, but to date no information has been made publicly available.

In 2005 the Office of Personnel Management Inspector General (OPM IG) opened an investigation into alleged misconduct at the OSC. This investigation was prompted in part by an OSC complaint that GAP and other stakeholders filed to address a litany of abuses that allegedly took place at Bloch's directive. KMB, in a letter addressed yesterday to the Chair of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), asserts:

US government whistleblowers get a defender

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Joe Davidson – October 18, 2011

There’s been something special lately about the Office of Special Counsel. It’s doing its job. OSC is an independent federal agency with a long and well-deserved reputation for failing to protect federal whistleblowers, although part of its mission is “to safeguard the merit system by protecting federal employees and applicants from prohibited personnel practices.”

One ugly prohibited practice is reprisal against federal workers who speak out against harmful policies and programs. Punishing employees who blow the whistle on stupid and illegal actions is wrong, wasteful and counterproductive on so many levels, you’d think it would be a rarity.

Ex-whistleblower protector conviction overturned

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Nedra Pickler – August 3, 2011

A federal judge on Wednesday overturned the conviction and monthlong jail sentence of a former government whistle-blower protector who pleaded guilty to keeping information from congressional investigators.

Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that a magistrate judge "abused her discretion" by refusing to let President George W. Bush's former special counsel, Scott Bloch, withdraw his guilty plea with the support of prosecutors.

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