Former Klamath National Forest seasonal firefighter Pedro Rios ended up on the U.S. Forest Service's "do not rehire" list after a 2020 post on social media about what he perceived as the agency's lax COVID-19 rules during the pandemic, which could have endangered the health of his young son.
Rios sued the agency, alleging that refusing to rehire him for the 2021 fire season was the result of "retaliation for whistleblowing activity."
Earlier this month, the Forest Service reached a settlement to award Rios $115,000 in back pay, after an administrative judge for the government's Merit Systems Protection Board found that Rios had "exhausted his administrative remedies and made non-frivolous allegations entitling him to a hearing."
Administrative Judge Michael Shachat also ordered the agency to place the appellant in the same job position he would have held if he'd been rehired. The judge also ruled that the agency must remove Rios from any “do not rehire” lists.
The judge's decision became final on April 1.
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In an interview this week, Rios said the post came after his 27-member, five-engine "strike team" had been deployed to contain a wildfire in the Angeles National Forest outside Los Angeles.
By the time the crew arrived on July 7, 2020, court documents said, the fire was already under control. Rios and his crew members were directed to return to their regular duty station that same day, with...
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