Whistleblowing disclosures and complaints by federal employees filed at the Office of Special Counsel alleging prohibited personnel practices increased sharply in 2011-2016, GAO has said, and the OSC lost some ground on such cases despite improvements in how it processes them.
The total number of disclosures and complaints received by the OSC rose from just over 3,500 in 2011 to more than 5,800 in that time, and “the pace at which cases were closed did not keep pace with the number of cases received. As a result, the backlog also grew,” said GAO.
Within those totals, the number of whistleblowing disclosures rose from just above 900 to above 1,700, which GAO attributed at least in part to increased OSC outreach to federal employees regarding its availability to receive such complaints and have them investigated. The rise in so-called PPP cases was partly attributed to an increase in whistleblower retaliation complaints following a 2012 change in law expanding what is protected as whistleblowing.
The OSC recently reported that the complaint trend continued in 2017, driven by a continuing wave of complaints from VA employees who had cooperated with investigations into the patient scheduling and care scandal alleged that management responded by retaliating against them.
The GAO report recommended several changes in the way the OSC evaluates allegations from whistleblowers.