The Final Call

Whistleblowers seek federal protection

By Askia Muhammad -Senior Correspondent- | Last updated: Jun 8, 2012 - 9:52:10 AM

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WASHINGTON - When the subject of U.S. federal “whistleblowers” is discussed, the focus usually begins with the spectacular exploits of Daniel Ellsberg who leaked the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times in 1971, exposing that the administration of President Lyndon Johnson had “systematically lied, not only to the public, but also to Congress” about the Vietnam War. But the reality in the workplace is that most employees who expose federal waste, fraud and abuse, are women, and like Mr. Ellsberg they are often punished, not rewarded for their courage.

A handful of women, authors, and their supporters came forward again recently for a “Whistleblower Summit on Civil and Human Rights” to challenge President Barack Obama and his administration which they accuse of “WoW”—fighting a War on Whistleblowers and Women.

'I was discriminated against, sexually assaulted, retaliated, anything you can think of. They tried to run me out of there for describing the things that they’ve done, for telling on them, for whistleblowing.' —Alicia Dabney, Summit attendee

The Make It Safe Coalition, the ACORN 8, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Coalition of Minority Employees convened the summit May 21-23 to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the “No Fear Act,” which was enacted ostensibly to protect workers who come forward to expose racial discrimination and other wrongful government practices.

“I want to pay special recognition to the whistleblowers here today that have come forward to expose wrongdoing, waste, fraud, and abuse,” Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) told the summit opening plenary. “These courageous whistleblowers have risked their careers, livelihoods, and personal well-being.  I thank all whistleblowers and those who support their cause.

“The dean of Whistleblowers, Ernie Fitzgerald once said that the only crime whistleblowers commit is that they ‘commit truth.’ For it, they’re as welcome as a skunk at a picnic,” Sen. Grassley continued. “Today’s event highlights the uphill struggle that whistleblowers overcome. I commend each and every whistleblower that, like Ernie, fights to make sure that the truth is heard.”

“I was discriminated against, sexually assaulted, retaliated, anything you can think of,” summit attendee Alicia Dabney, a Native American from the Sequoia National Forrest in northern California told The Final Call. “They tried to run me out of there for describing the things that they’ve done, for telling on them, for whistleblowing.

“They’ve destroyed my life. Now, they don’t even want to allow me to go back to work. They’re letting the gentlemen who are employed, stay employed and continue to promote them while my kids are the ones suffering at home,” Ms. Dabney said, holding back tears.

“They’ve just ripped away my dignity. They’ve forced me to urinate in front of them on the side of the road. They’ve spit in my face in front of everybody. They’ve just ridiculed me. I get really emotional about it. Three years now, this has been going on.”

“I’ve said it for many years, I’d like to see the president of the United States have a Rose Garden ceremony honoring whistleblowers,” Sen. Grassley said. This would send a message from the very top of the government to the bottom about the importance and value of whistleblowers. They deserve it, and we all ought to be grateful for their efforts.  It would be the perfect event for the president to sign a bill like the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act.”

But Sen. Grassley’s legislation, passed by unanimous consent by the Senate in May 6, is in fact a wolf in sheep’s clothing, according to critics, because it contains a “poison pill” provision, according to Marsha Coleman-Adebayo. The bill now proceeds to the House as HR 3289.

“While this legislation provides millions of federal workers with important safety protections, it strips other legal protections particularly for Title 7 complainants, such as African-Americans, women, people of color and economically disadvantaged people, of hard won rights through the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB),” Ms. Coleman-Adebayo wrote for the “Black Agenda Report.”

“The No FEAR Institute, Net-We and the National Whistleblower Center have vowed to fight this betrayal of the goals of the civil rights movement through public education. These civil rights and whistleblower groups are demanding that President Obama veto the bill if the anti-civil rights provisions that would empower the MSPB to deny jury trials to victims of civil rights abuse reach his desk. The MSPB does not have an effective record of providing justice for victims of discrimination and whistleblowers, with only two percent of all victims prevailing before the Board.”

Activists participating in the summit agree that the new legislation is flawed. “The Summit is a coming together of civil rights, human rights and whistleblower community. To stand up for the justice we have not gotten with the passage 10 years ago with the Whistleblower Act. We’re here to celebrate the Whistleblower Act for 10 years, but we’re here to announce that we’re going to fight for a better bill in the House and the Senate,” Lawrence Lucas, president of the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees told The Final Call. “We’ve been in this struggle a long time.”

“Sen. Grassley today talked about the passage of that bill on practically a unanimous vote, but there are corrections that we have to make in that bill to make sure that the bill does not deny a person who wants to go to court.

“What also happened today, which is unusual, we were able to talk about the Black farmers. We were able to talk about women. Women who came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who I represent. Five of those women came to D.C. You could see the tears in their eyes and their pain and suffering,” Mr. Lucas continued.

“What we need to understand, that everybody in the federal government must be held accountable when they abuse the civil rights, the human rights, and the other rights of individuals. That has not been happening under this administration, I’m sorry to say.

“We worked with the Clinton administration. We worked with Dan Glickman, and they made change. And all the changes we made, under the Bush administration, slowly were eradicated. But now we have an indifferent posture at the USDA. We cannot for the sake of us understand, the one person that we elected president is allowing the abuse of women, allowing the continuing abuse of minority farmers, women farmers, and Hispanic farmers as we move toward an election.

“We are not a partisan organization, but we do demand and we do expect that every individual, every employee, every farmer, if they want justice by going and asking for programs from the Department of Agriculture, they get it, and they get it speedily and fair. When an employee files a complaint, that that case should be processed and speedily processed, and the one thing we do not expect, and it’s happening mostly to women, whether they’re Black, White, pink or blue. The women are reprised against. They’re losing their jobs. And these five brave women came from California, a Native American came from Indiana to talk about the problems they have.”

“I’m just glad you guys invited me out here to make a stand,” Ms. Dabney said. “I guess what I’ve realized is that, once you whistleblow, you don’t have a career anymore. But you have an obligation to the others below you, the next generation, the future, my nieces, my nephews, people’s mothers, people’s sisters, daughters, anything that’s coming from this day forward. We’re literally making history. We’ve come together, everybody, whistleblowers, civil rights, Occupy EPA.”

Mr. Lucas promised his coalition would continue to press for the eradication of all forms of discrimination at the USDA, and to protect the workers who expose wrongdoing from within the government.

“I think it can be done. It can be accomplished. But we have to come together as a group,” Mr. Lucas said. “We are here to say that we’re coming back. We’re going to have thousands of shoes in Washington if they don’t straighten up the mess at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And we’ll continue to work with the whistleblower group.

“The pain and suffering of women, the pain and suffering of minority farmers need to be addressed by the Congress, by the media and by this administration,” he said.