Appeals court rules federal agency must hear ATF whistleblower case

By Christen Smith

A federal appeals court ruled this week the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board must weigh in on a whistleblower’s allegations of retaliation within the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
A panel from the Seventh Circuit of Appeals determined the board and the Office of Special Counsel “applied unduly stringent and … arbitrary requirements” after ATF Special Agent Adam Delgado accused a colleague of improperly firing at a fleeing suspect, falsifying reports about the incident and lying on the stand to cover his impropriety.
Both agencies dismissed Delgado’s claims for insufficient evidence, saying the disclosure wasn’t protected under federal law.
“We hold that, like other statutes with exhaustion provisions, the Whistleblower Protection Act requires only that a complainant fairly present his claim with enough specificity to enable the agency to investigate,” the panel wrote in a decision issued Monday. “The Act itself and its implementing regulations do not require a whistleblower to prove his allegations before the OSC — otherwise, what need could there be for an investigation?”
Delgado transferred to the Chicago Field Division in 2011 after settling a previous whistleblower case in Puerto Rico, according to court documents. He “complained informally” about the hostile work environment he’d endured from day one,

Source: Guns.com