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After more than seven years of waiting, six federal whistleblowers who allege the government turned a blind eye as big corporations stole timber from the forests of the Northwest are getting their day in court.

In a landmark whistleblower case, the group of present and former law enforcement investigators say they were retaliated against for exposing the theft of millions of board feet of timber and the Forest Service's complicity in the crimes, which cost taxpayers millions of dollars. The trial began Oct. 20 before the Merit Systems Protection Board in Portland, Ore.

The investigators are represented by lawyers from the Government Accountability Project and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, who allege the government conspired with corrupt timber companies. According to the attorneys, the Forest Service abruptly abolished the only investigative unit dedicated to the problem of corporate timber theft in early 1995 and reassigned law enforcement officers to jobs that kept them away from genuine timber theft investigations.

The lawyers also contend the Forest Service went to "extraordinary efforts" to prevent the case from going to court.

"These law enforcement agents have had their professional and family lives shattered both by the Forest Service and the undermining of whistleblower laws by civil service and federal appeals judges bent on protecting the agencies rather than the employees," said Tom Devine, the Government Accountability Project's legal director. "While our lawyers will vigorously pursue the rights of our clients next week after seven years of waiting, only Congress can reinstate the shields that whistleblowers need to serve the public interest."

Point of No Return

The Defense Department is not obligated to pay for its mistakes on a new employee's relocation instructions, the Board of Contract Appeals ruled recently.

Jerome Dosdall moved from Powder Springs, Ga., to Huntsville, Ala., to begin work at the Defense Contract Management Agency. The agency initially offered to cover some of Dosdall's moving expenses, including the costs associated with selling his Powder Springs home and temporary storage fees.

But relocation specialists at Defense later realized that federal laws do not allow agencies to reimburse new hires for real estate transactions or temporary storage lasting more than 180 days. So the agency denied Dosdall's claims for $2,045.12 for temporary storage fees paid after the 180-day limit.

Dosdall brought his case to the Board of Contract Appeals, claiming that Defense should have reimbursed him for the storage and other expenses related to selling his Georgia house, as promised in his travel orders.

Defense did Dosdall a "disservice" by "authorizing reimbursements that it had no power to authorize," the board said in an Oct. 9 ruling. Even so, the department is not required to repay him, the board decided.

The board based its ruling on "the Supreme Court's direction that the government cannot be held to its representatives' promises when they are contrary to the law."

Jerome A. Dosdall v. Defense Finance and Accounting Service, General Services Administration Board of Contract Appeals (16244-RELO), Oct. 9, 2003

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