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The Office of Special Counsel has determined it has jurisdiction over complaints filed by Transportation Security Administration airport screeners, Special Counsel Scott Bloch said Wednesday.

"OSC has made the determination that it has jurisdiction over TSA screener cases involving discrimination, whistleblower reprisal and retaliation for exercise of appeal rights," Bloch said. "We have requested that [the Merit Systems Protection Board] allow us to file briefs in several cases where this matter of jurisdiction is at issue."

TSA spokesman Mark Hatfield said Thursday his agency has had a memorandum of agreement with OSC since the spring of 2002 - before it began hiring screeners - to hear complaints.

"We're eager to work with the OSC and we are committed to not only providing the best internal response to employee grievances, but we want to ensure that there is an independent, outside source available to them as well," Hatfield said. "Anything short of that would be a disservice to our own employees."

OSC has been hearing screener complaints for months, but finally completed an internal review last week that concluded the office has jurisdiction over such cases, Bloch said. He said OSC never ceased its investigation of screener cases while the internal review was proceeding, and has about 45 cases pending. He added that five screener cases have been referred for further investigation within OSC.

TSA also has its own internal process to investigate complaints. Earlier this year, TSA reported that it had received so many complaints from screeners that it was overhauling its management practices. Screeners claimed the agency had failed to adequately address a litany of problems they face at airports nationwide, including discrimination against minorities and veterans, selective hiring and firing practices, nepotism and management violations.

Hatfield said TSA has been working to resolve complaints internally even while the OSC has taken on cases.

"There hasn't been a vacuum of action," he said. "There is an effective internal process."

Graceful Exit

A former Pentagon executive has acknowledged that he should not have campaigned for a seat in the House of Representatives while holding a government job.

In a settlement with the Office of Special Counsel reached late last month, Andre Hollis conceded that he violated the Hatch Act by entering the race to represent Virginia's 8th Congressional District while serving as the Defense Department's deputy assistant secretary for counternarcotics. The Hatch Act restricts the political activities of federal employees.

Hollis admitted that between March and October 2003, he sought contributions for his campaign to unseat Rep. James Moran, D-Va., and interacted with Friends of the 8th, a Republican group. Hollis previously claimed that he had no association with the group.

But e-mail correspondence contradicted that claim, according to OSC officials. OSC in September 2003 asked the Merit Systems Protection Board to order Defense to fire Hollis. The board can punish Hatch Act violators by barring them from federal employment or by suspending them for 30 days without pay.

Hollis, a political appointee, resigned from his job once OSC filed the complaint with the board. OSC is satisfied with the settlement agreement reached on March 25 and has dropped the complaint.

But in a statement announcing the agreement, Special Counsel Scott Bloch warned government workers not to follow in Hollis' footsteps. "As we enter the 2004 national election cycle, it is important for federal employees to be well aware of the prohibitions on partisan candidacy, coercion of partisan support and political activity while on the job," he said.

Office of Special Counsel case, March 25, 2004

COMMENTS

• The TSA is the most corrupt government agency on record. I have been lied to and made a fool of by this agency, as have many others. The TSA has violated all of the whistle blower complaints, some more than once. Someone needs to be held accountable. They have proven they cannot be trusted and I defy anyone to say otherwise. I have great concern over the new CAPPS II program. This is the USA not Nazi Germany. They have forgotten. All of these statements are supported with true facts. If you have any doubts just let me know. Frank Dempsey Posted April 11, 2004 12:40 AM