MSPB stays removal of TSA inspector pending investigation

The Office of Special Counsel this week obtained a Merit Systems Protection Board order blocking the removal of a Transportation Security Administration inspector for 45 days while OSC investigates her claim of alleged retaliation for whistleblowing.

Kimberly Barnett, who works as an explosive detection canine handler at Charleston International Airport in South Carolina, had made disclosures alleging that her supervisor violated agency safety rules and inaccurately recorded the time he worked.

According to OSC, Barnett said that after she began her disclosures to management in October 2013, a TSA official allegedly told her she was not “being a team player” and was throwing her supervisor “under the bus.” Barnes subsequently reported the misconduct to OSC in June 2014.

Two months later, Barnett was involved in a minor car accident when a bus struck her parked car, which she reported to her supervisor. When Barnett later spoke about the accident in a meeting with the TSA official who had made the "team player" reference, the official accused her of cursing on the phone to her supervisor when she reported the accident, which she said she did not recall doing. In another meeting with two TSA investigators, she once again said that she did not recall cursing.

On Oct. 31, TSA proposed to fire her for inappropriate conduct based on the alleged cursing, as well as for lack of candor in her statements to TSA officials when she claimed that she could not recall having cursed following the accident. On Nov. 26, TSA issued Barnett a notice of removal, effective immediately.

After finding "reasonable grounds to believe that TSA proposed Ms. Barnett’s removal based on her protected disclosure," MSPB on Dec. 16 issued an order granting OSC's request to stay Barnett's removal for 45 days while the office investigates the case.