OSC Issues Reminder of Anti-Gag Provisions in Whistleblower Law
Washington, D.C. January 26, 2017. The Office of Special Counsel (OSC), issued a press release yesterday reminding federal agencies and the federal work force of the rights afforded to whistleblowers under the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA). OSC is an independent watchdog agency that protects federal employees from unauthorized personnel practices in government.
The OSC pointed out that under the anti-gag provision of the WPEA, agencies cannot impose nondisclosure policies on federal employees without including the required language that informs them of their statutory right to blow the whistle. This reminder comes after scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture were blocked this week by the Trump Administration from communicating with the public and the press. A move that has the potential to create a chilling effect on federal workers.
The OSC release noted that whistleblower laws protect employees who blow the whistle “on any effort to ‘distort, misrepresent, suppress’ or otherwise censor any government ‘research, analysis, or technical information’ that the employee reasonably believes could, among other things, pose a substantial and significant threat to the public health or safety or constitute a violation of law, rule, or regulation.”
“Nondisclosure agreements and policies can chill would-be whistleblowers from coming forward. These orders must clearly state that federal employees have a right to make disclosures of wrongdoing,” Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner said in the statement.
The National Law Journal reports that these measures by the Trump Administration have whistleblower attorneys and advocates on alert. Washington attorney David Colapinto of the whistleblower law firm Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, LLP said, “Trumps picks for the Office of Special Counsel and the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board,” could give clues to how he will treat whistleblowers. “I think only time will tell as to whether or not the Trump administration is going to carry out a lot of retaliation against whistleblowers or whether or not they will respect that right,” Colapinto concluded.
