The employee, John M. Fitzgerald, was the only environmental analyst at USAID examining U.S. supported international development projects' compliance with environmental standards. He alleges that USAID gave in to pressure from the U.S. Treasury to hide information about projects in Africa, South America and Eastern Europe that were not complying with environmental rules. Projects not properly reviewed for environmental consequences may not receive U.S. support under the Pelosi amendment, which also requires biannual reporting to Congress. Fitzgerald found that nearly half the projects receiving money from multilateral development banks received no environmental review, and the reviews that were conducted were often incomplete. His allegations about USAID's noncompliance were removed from a report to Congress. Since his dismissal in 2002, there have been no reports sent to Congress.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed a whistleblower complaint on behalf of Fitzgerald. The federal civil service court that heard the case ruled in favor of Fitzgerald Sept. 1, saying that his disclosures are protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA), that his disclosures contributed to his dismissal, and that he is now entitled to a full hearing.
While the WPA is shielding a federal employee in this case, it is well know that the law does not provide enough protections for all whistleblowers. Since Congress unanimously strengthened the law in 1994, the courts have defied statutory language and congressional intent by drastically limiting the circumstances under which an employee is even eligible for whistleblower protection. Court rulings now prevent the WPA from protecting whistleblowers if they disclose wrongdoing to a co-worker, act in connection with job duties, or if someone else has already exposed the same conduct.
Legislation to strengthen the WPA is currently before Congress. S. 2628, the "Federal Employee Protection of Disclosures Act," is the first stand-alone whistleblower protection bill to be approved by the Senate Committee on Government Affairs in ten years. The House Government Reform Committee approved similar legislation Sept. 29, but H.R. 3281 lacks the structural reforms of the Senate bill to prevent the current frustrations from continuing. This includes allowing whistleblowers normal access to appeals courts and closing the loophole in which security clearances can be revoked from national security whistleblowers.
Visit OMB Watch's action alert to tell your representatives to pass the stronger Senate version of whistleblower protection legislation during the House-Senate conference. For more information on whistleblowers, see the Government Accountability Project.