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The Navy must pay $23,000 to a former whistleblower who uncovered fraud that cost the government nearly $1 million under a settlement negotiated by the Office of Special Counsel.

Patricia Reagan was head of the customer support division for the Navy Public Work Center's Information Systems Department in 1995 when she told agency officials that her supervisor knowingly signed off on false cost reports submitted by a subcontractor. According to Reagan, the subcontractor had submitted fake names on billing records. After she blew the whistle on her supervisor, Reagan alleges that her duties were changed and her workload was reduced which prompted her to quit her job.

Several years later Reagan reported her former supervisor's activities to the U.S. attorney's office and, after an investigation, the supervisor was indicted. The supervisor pled guilty to a felony in exchange for being placed on probation. The contractor pled guilty and was sent to prison.

Reagan also filed a complaint with OSC alleging she was subjected to a hostile work environment after she blew the whistle on her supervisor. OSC is responsible for investigating federal whistleblowers' allegations of retaliation and for enforcing the 1989 Whistleblower Protection Act.

OSC asked the agency to settle the case with Reagan, and the agency agreed to pay her $23,000 without admitting fault in the case.

Office of Special Counsel case, Dec. 2, 2002

Loose Lips

Gerald Viens, a mail clerk with the Fish and Wildlife Service, was fired for sexual harassment.

According to agency officials, Viens was fired after he grabbed a coworker's face and kissed her twice on the lips, asked a second coworker for her telephone number and invited her out for drinks on several occasions, and bussed a third coworker on the cheek.

Viens appealed that decision to the Merit Systems Protection Board, denying that he sexually harassed his coworkers and contending that the punishment was too harsh. An administrative judge upheld the agency's decision.

Viens appealed that decision saying that the agency could not prove under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that he had created a hostile work environment, or that he had been offered an employment benefit in return for sexual favors.

The board decided Viens was guilty of sexual harassment after the woman he kissed testified that she did not want to return to the mailroom or even look at Viens after the unwanted advance.

"We find that the penalty of removal is reasonable under the circumstances of this case," the board said in its decision.

Gerald Viens v. Interior Department, Merit Systems Protection Board (Doc. # BN-0752-01-0037-I-1), August 20, 2002