The rules would: expand the definition of offices of persons to whom disclosures may be made that would trigger whistleblower protections. Image: Kristi Blokhin/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe Justice Department has proposed rules to enhance whistleblower protections for FBI employees, including widening the definitions of what are protected whistleblower disclosures and what personnel actions are considered retaliatory.
The notice in the March 29 Federal Register states that the FBI “is in an intermediate position” between standard federal employee whistleblower protections and specific exclusions for some positions in intelligence fields. “Although it is one of the agencies expressly excluded from the scheme established for federal employees generally, its employees nevertheless are protected by a separate statutory provision and special regulations promulgated pursuant to that provision, which forbid reprisals against FBI whistleblowers and provide an administrative remedy within the Department,” it says.
Policies built up through a series of internal decisions and laws ultimately resulted in the Federal Bureau of Investigation Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2016; the proposed rules with a 60-day comment period result from a review to carry out that law.
Among other things, the rules would: expand the definition of offices of persons to whom disclosures may be made that would trigger whistleblower protections; provide for more equal access to witnesses; specify that compensatory damages may be awarded as appropriate; and formalize some practices that have been used informally.
That latter category includes providing for the use of acknowledgement and show-cause orders, providing access to alternative dispute resolution through the Department’s FBI Whistleblower Mediation Program, clarifying the authority to adjudicate allegations of a breach of a settlement agreement, and reporting information about those responsible for unlawful reprisals.
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