A settlement has been reached in one of the more high-profile whistleblower retaliation cases involving federal employees of recent years, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives employee Afolabi Siwajuola, who made disclosures including intentional misclassification of about 100 HR and administrative positions as law enforcement to boost their pay rates and later retirement benefits.
“He will be transferred out of ATF to another Department of Justice component agency to a position at his current grade and pay scale. Siwajuola will also receive a financial settlement in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and a monetary employee recognition award in the thousands of dollars,” said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, a leading advocate in Congress for whistleblowers, who brokered the settlement.
Following a referral for investigation from the Office of Special Counsel, the OPM confirmed the allegations and suspended ATF’s authority to classify federal law enforcement positions.
In addition to the position classification issue—which resulted in overpayments over five years estimated as at least $20 million—the disclosures related to “lowering the qualifying standards for ATF special agent and industry operations investigator applicants to meet the demands of a hiring surge; and pressuring ATF employees to approve certain applicants who failed to meet basic qualification requirements for special agent and industry operations investigator positions, especially...
Attendees of the Federal Bar Association’s annual Qui Tam Conference gained valuable insights from one of DOJ’s top False Claims Act enforcers last month. Commercial Litigation Branch Deputy Assis...