Former AmeriCorps IG sues agency, seeks to reverse dismissal
Gerald Walpin alleges his termination was "unlawful and procedurally defective."
A government watchdog dismissed by the Obama administration is suing to get his job back.
Former Inspector General Gerald Walpin, who oversaw the AmeriCorps volunteer program, filed suit Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington, alleging that his termination by the Corporation for National and Community Service last month was "unlawful and procedurally defective."
Defendants in the suit are the human resources director, general counsel and the acting chief executive officer of the corporation, the parent agency of the AmeriCorps program.
Critics of Walpin's dismissal have tied his firing to a probe he conducted into a nonprofit organization run by Sacramento, Calif., Mayor Kevin Johnson, a friend of President Obama's and a campaign donor. Corporation directors supported the move, saying that the IG had been "disoriented and confused" at a recent board meeting and had displayed unprofessional and erratic behavior in recent months.
The White House has said it complied with federal law in dismissing Walpin, who alleges in his lawsuit that he "continues to suffer very real reputational, vocational, and economic injuries" as a result of the firing.
"We strongly believe [Walpin's] claims are without merit and will be rejected by the courts," a White House spokesman said Monday.