Whistleblower Retaliation Allegation by a Contract Employee

We investigated allegations that a contract employee was reprised against by the U.S. Department of the Interior and contract officials after the employee raised concerns about unresolved information technology issues – a disclosure protected under the National Defense Act of 2013. 

 

We found that the contract employee did make a whistleblower disclosure, but despite being removed from the contract, we did not find conclusive evidence that the employee was reprised against. Department officials denied they asked the contractor to remove the employee. The contractor claimed they were concerned about the employee’s working relationship with the Department and reassigned the employee to another contract at the same pay rate.