The Merit Systems Protection Board has issued a report laying out the challenges federal employees face in qualifying as “whistleblowers” and thus protected under current statutes and case law.
To qualify as a whistleblower under the Whistleblower Protection Act, a federal employee or applicant for employment must disclose a violation of any law, rule, or regulation, gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety, said MBPB.
However, it said that’s not enough. Employees also must avoid using normal channels if the disclosure is in the course of the employee’s duties, make the report to someone other than the wrongdoer, and suffer a personnel action, the agency’s failure to take a personnel action, or the threat to take or not take a personnel action.
Finally, the employee must seek redress through the proper channels before filing an appeal with the MSPB.
If an employee fails to meet any of those criteria MSPB would not have jurisdiction in the matter and couldn’t provide any redress in the absence of some other non-whistleblowing appeal right.
