MSPB has issued a decision in which it reiterated limits on protections for employees who assert they suffered retaliation for whistleblowing, in a case involving duty to follow orders.
MSPB recounted that a State Department employee filed an “individual right of action” complaint alleging that management stripped him of certain job duties and gave him a poor performance rating after he refused to follow an order that would have required him to violate federal acquisition regulations and training certification procedures.
The hearing officer dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction, finding that the claim of retaliation based on refusal to violate acquisition regulations and training procedures did not amount to a nonfrivolous allegation that he refused to obey an order that would require him to violate a law.
The full three-member board agreed, citing a U.S. Supreme Court decision stating that while employees are protected from whistleblower retaliation for refusing to obey an order that would require a violation of the law, the protection does not extend to violations of an agency regulation or policy.
