Three TSA Whistleblowers Settle Retaliation Cases for $1 Million

The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) saw a major victory for whistleblowers on May 23, 2018, after reversing three accounts of wrongfully assigned Transportation Security Administration (TSA) supervisors who blew the whistle on their higher-ups. The supervisors settled, with help from the OSC, for approximately $1 million combined in compensatory damages with TSA.

The OSC issued a press release on Wednesday, stating that the three cases of whistleblower retaliation were resolved and the employees that were wrongfully reassigned will be returning to similar positions in their native Hawaii.

Sharlene Mata, Heather Callahan Chuck and Frank Abreu, the TSA supervisors who reported mismanagement to their employers in 2014, were scrutinized and swiftly reassigned to other parts of the United States, separating them from their families in some cases. Callahan Chuck had been reassigned several times, ultimately leading to her resignation.

“OSC’s involvement required the review of thousands of pages of material, interviews with two dozen witnesses and subjects, and the congressional testimony of my predecessor before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee more than a year ago. This favorable outcome has been a long time in the making,” said Special Counsel Henry J. Kerner in the press release. “I am pleased that we were able to achieve favorable results for the three TSA employees who had their lives thrown into disarray and hope this outcome will encourage others to speak up when they see something that could put the public at risk.”

TSA has ended their practice of reassigning employees to work across the country and has developed a whistleblower retaliation training program.