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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (42868)	4/16/2004 10:48:40 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Special Counsel's Chief Is Assailed Bloch Accused of Silencing Staff By Stephen Barr Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, April 16, 2004; Page A19 The head of an independent agency that enforces workplace and whistleblower rights of federal employees was accused yesterday of trying to curb employee rights in his own office. The Office of Special Counsel denied that was the case, and said agency employees will be encouraged to speak up within the office about their concerns. An internal e-mail was leaked to three watchdog groups, which called it a "gag order" aimed at silencing the agency's career staff. "It is ironic that the nation's protector of whistleblowers is not protecting his own," said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight. The three groups sent a protest letter to the agency, which responded with a second e-mail to senior staff to clarify the first e-mail. Scott J. Bloch, the agency head, said in the second e-mail that "nobody on my immediate staff saw the final message before it went out," and "there was no intent" to curtail the First Amendment or statutory rights of the agency's employees. The e-mail flap came a week after Bloch ended a dispute with gay groups and some members of Congress over how to interpret civil service law, and reinstated a ban on sexual-orientation discrimination in the federal workplace. Bloch acted after the White House made it clear that President Bush expects federal employees to be protected from discrimination at work. Bloch told his senior staff to reassure agency employees that they can speak up. "In the future, if there are any concerns about policies or procedures, please encourage any employee to feel free to voice them to me, my staff, or through you to us." The first e-mail was sent April 9, informing employees that Bloch had reinstated the ban on sexual-orientation discrimination. The e-mail begins with the phrase "the Special Counsel has requested." That e-mail instructed agency employees to refer complainants, their representatives, federal agency representatives and others "to the press release on our web site as a complete and definitive statement of OSC's policy" on sexual-orientation discrimination. It also said that "the Special Counsel has directed that any official comment on or discussion of confidential or sensitive internal agency matters with anyone outside OSC must be approved in advance. . . ." The e-mail prompted a letter of protest yesterday from three watchdog groups -- the Government Accountability Project, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and the Project on Government Oversight. The groups said "the sweeping and overbroad language" in the e-mail violates the First Amendment, the Whistleblower Protection Act and an "anti-gag" law annually renewed by Congress to ensure that federal employees can bring concerns to lawmakers and congressional committees. "The special counsel is the last official that should be issuing gag orders," Jeff Ruch, executive director of the environmental group, said. © 2004 The Washington Post Company washingtonpost.com