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By: FEDweek StaffThe House Oversight and Reform Committee has passed HR-2988 to expand protections for whistleblowing federal employees against retaliation, in what would be the largest overhaul of those protections since a 2012 law.
The bill would specify that no federal government employee, up to and including the President, may interfere with or retaliate against a federal employee sharing information with Congress; bar agencies from launching retaliatory investigations in certain situations; define certain types of furloughs as retaliatory actions; and bar retaliation against an employee who makes whistleblowing-type disclosures to a supervisor.
The bill also would speed up consideration of requests for a delay in a personnel action the employee considers retaliatory pending further investigations; grant whistleblowers access to a jury trial in federal district court if the MSPB does not issue a decision in 180 days (or 240 days for complex cases); and clarify that whistleblowers who prevail are entitled to recover attorney fees and other relief such as training, restoration of seniority, or a promotion consistent with the employee’s record.
It further would broaden the categories of covered employees to include noncareer Senior Executive Service employees, Public Health Service officers or applicants, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s commissioned officer corps.
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