A trio of Democratic senators on Thursday released a report finding the Department of Energy had failed to enforce whistleblower retaliation laws, particularly for those who exposed wrongdoing at nuclear facilities, and said it amounted to a “war on whistleblowers.”
The report, produced by the Government Accountability Office, was first requested by Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey, Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden in March 2014. The three were joined at a press conference by two whistleblowers who had been terminated, including one who was fired for cooperating with GAO.
“When you retaliate against an employee for cooperating with an investigation about retaliation, it shows there is truly no limit to the lengths the department and its contractors will go to dodge accountability,” Wyden said. “It’s time to end the ‘war on whistleblowers’ at the Energy Department.”
Senators initially requested that the agency investigate reports of retaliation at the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state, but GAO subsequently expanded the investigation to include 87 complaints filed by contractor employees at 10 nuclear facilities. However, the report noted, DOE issued just two violation notices to contractors for breaching whistleblower retaliation laws in the last 20 years.
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GAO recommended the department review the environment through which whistleblowers are able to raise concerns, expedite the timeframe for resolution and clarify how whistleblower policies are to be enforced against contractors. Senators called for the recommendations to be implemented quickly.
“This new GAO report makes clear that the Department of Energy has utterly failed to protect whistleblowers from retaliation by its contractors,” Markey said. “Whistleblowers are our modern-day Paul Reveres, shedding light on unsafe, wasteful and possible illegal activities.
“They should be applauded and rewarded, not threatened and fired,” Markey added. “The American taxpayer should not foot the bill for legal fees for DOE contractors who’ve engaged in wrongdoing. DOE must hold its contractors accountable for engaging in retaliation and harassment and reform this dangerous culture of disregard for the law.”
