Editorial: Protecting whistleblowers

Saturday, March 17, 2007 | 6:53 a.m.

Federal records reveal that the Labor Department has been approving settlements in which employees permanently lose their jobs after they blow the whistle on safety breaches at toxic waste sites and nuclear facilities.

Under federal law, employees are supposed to be protected from on-the-job retaliation and job losses when they reveal wrongdoing on the part of their private or federal employers. But Labor Department records that were obtained by an advocacy group for whistleblowers and given to USA Today showed that the Labor Department has approved 73 settlements between whistleblowers and their employers since 2000. And in 45 of those agreements, whistleblowers were permanently barred from working for the employers.

According to USA Today, the cases involved settlements in which whistleblowers claimed they were disciplined or unjustly fired after complaining about health and security issues - allegations that, in some of the cases, had been validated by state or federal agencies.

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said it is "especially troubling" that the Labor Department appears to have sanctioned such settlements, and he has promised to investigate the use of such bans, USA Today reports. Dingell also said that if he discovered the Labor Department is allowing the so-called "blacklisting" of whistleblowers, then he would consider introducing legislation to make certain that such practices stop.

This is not the first time in recent months that whistleblower protections have been criticized by Congress. Last year lawmakers testifying before a House subcommittee on national security said that federal whistleblower protections were not working. At the time, examples included demotions and disciplinary actions that were taken against such federal whistleblowers as those who revealed the government's failure to adequately track the hijackers responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Dingell should diligently pursue this situation, seeking to ensure the protection of workers who uncover wrongdoing by their employers - especially those revealing weaknesses that could endanger the public's health or safety.