A decision by the MSPB extended whistleblower protections to federal employees for cooperating with or disclosing information to investigators, while a ruling by a federal appeals court took a restrictive reading regarding drawing inferences of an agency’s intent to retaliate.
In 2025 MSPB 2, the merit board sent back for a determination a retaliation complaint that a hearing officer had dismissed on jurisdictional grounds. The employee initially had filed two complaints with the Office of Special Counsel, first asserting that she had experienced harassment after filing an EEO complaint and the second that she had been obstructed from competing for other positions in retaliation for filing the complaint. She filed a complaint with the MSPB after the OSC did not bring a case there.
The board noted that under its precedent, the filing of an EEO complaint by itself does not constitute the type of disclosure protected by whistleblower law. However, it also noted a section of law providing protection for cooperating with or disclosing information the OSC, an IG “or any other component responsible for internal investigation or review.”
Even though an EEO complaint was the subject, it said, that protection applies because an agency EEO office has “broad investigatory authority and authority to issue final decisions.” That decision follows a recent similar ruling finding that the provision encompass not just permanent agency components, but also ad hoc internal investigations or...
On February 26, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a significant False Claims Act (FCA) ruling in United States of America ex rel. Cheryl Taylor v. Healthcare ...