Investigation of Alleged Retaliation by a Manager with Office of Civil Rights

OIG investigated an allegation that a manager with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), retaliated against an OCR employee by removing the employee from OCR and placing the employee on a detail outside DOI. 

 

Our investigation did not reveal evidence of retaliation. According to the manager, he placed the employee on detail for disruptive behavior in the workplace, for undermining his authority, and not supporting his management decisions. We did find that the manager placed the employee on detail in an effort to expedite the employee’s departure from OCR instead of using the appropriate progressive discipline. In addition, he did not document the employee’s misconduct, and had rated the employee as “superior” during the most recent end-of-year evaluation.

 

This is a summary of a report of investigation that we issued to the Office of Policy, Management and Budget for action.