The Office of Special Counsel has said that as a result of a whistleblower retaliation investigation, three TSA supervisors who had been involuntarily transferred after making disclosures about airport operations and safety have received compensatory damages totaling about $1 million plus the return of two of them to their former homes.
The OSC said that at the time of their reassignments all three were involved in overseeing airport operations and that in 2014, two of them “made disclosures to TSA leadership, including reports of mismanagement and lax airport security protocols. Shortly after, their subordinates raised concerns to TSA leadership about the efficiency and effectiveness of a regional restructuring plan. TSA faulted the complainants for poor leadership and abruptly reassigned them from their airports in Hawaii to Seattle, Los Angeles, and Burbank.”
One of them was reassigned several more times and “ultimately resigned under duress,” it added.
In addition to the agreements regarding the individuals, “TSA has discontinued its discretionary practice of widespread geographic reassignments. TSA has also created a comprehensive internal training program on whistleblower retaliation,” it said.
