Judge Orders U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to Issue Letter of “Sincere Thanks” to Whistleblower
On March 12, 2024, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) administrative judge presiding over a long-running federal employee whistleblower case ordered the Army to issue a letter of “sincere thanks” to Dr. Tommie (Toni) Savage, the whistleblower. This is one of the rare instances where a federal agency has been ordered to issue a letter commending a whistleblower.
Dr. Savage is represented by Michael Kohn, a founding partner of the whistleblower law firm Kohn, Kohn and Colapinto, LLP. “The fact that the government was required to praise a whistleblower in writing is remarkable,” Kohn said. Dr. Savage remains hopeful that the long overdue letter of “sincere thanks” will eventually arrive.
Whistleblower Toni Savage was removed from federal service after blowing the whistle on millions of dollars of contracting fraud she witnessed as a contracting officer at the Army Corps of Engineers Huntsville, Alabama Support Center. Before being removed, all of her whistleblowing allegations were confirmed in two high level Army Regulation 15-6 reports. The two Army reports identified that the region’s chief counsel and command structure bore direct responsibility for allowing the contracting fraud to continue, praised the whistleblower for her integrity and found that the primary wrongdoer had destroyed evidence and lied during the investigation. The reports should have produced corrective action, but a coverup of the reports occurred and they never saw the light of day until they were unearthed by Dr. Savage’s counsel at trial. As part of the coverup, Dr. Savage, who was lauded by the Corps deputy commander as being the most valuable employee in Huntsville, was harassed and retaliated against and removed from government service.
It took fourteen years to resolve Dr. Savage’s claims, and eventually led to establishing the right of federal employee whistleblowers to bring hostile work environment claims under the federal Whistleblower Protection Act. The Army, having lost twice before the MSPB raised the white flag when a hearing was about to begin to determine the proper scope of damages. A final settlement was eventually approved by the MSPB last year.
One of the key terms of that settlement required the Army Corps’ commander to issue a letter of “sincere thanks” to the whistleblower. Eight months after the agreement took effect the letter did not arrive.
Dr. Savage filed an enforcement action asking the MSPB judge to order the Army to live up to the terms of the settlement that required the Army to send Dr. Savage the letter of thanks. On March 12, 2024, the administrative judge assigned to the case ordered the Army to issue the letter.
