Developments at the OSC: The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) recently issued its annual report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2017.OSC reported an overall decrease in new matters over FY16, with a drop of almost 3% in new matters received, and an almost 7% reduction...
Protecting Workers’ Rights
Focusing on the Rights of Federal Employees
Developments At The OSC
Mixing politics and social media can mean trouble for federal employees
With election season in full swing, political opinions are not hard to come by. If you are a federal employee, you may already know that there are limits on things you can say or do regarding your political opinions. Since 1939, the Hatch Act has set limits on...
Developments at the OSC: FY2014 Annual Report Analyzed
Developments at the OSC: The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) recently issued its annual report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2014.OSC reported an overall 16% increase in overall new matters received (to over 5200) over the prior fiscal year, but also reported...
Developments at the OSC: Proposed Rule for Contractor Whistleblowers
Developments at the OSC: On January 22, 2015, the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register (80 Fed.Reg. 3,182-3,184). The Proposed Rule seeks to expand OSC's whistleblower disclosure program to...
Developments at the OSC: Two Recent LGBT Cases Against the Army
Developments at the OSC: The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) recently announced the results in two major cases involving protections for LGBT employees in the federal workforce. OSC's jurisdiction includes enforcing the rules against prohibited...
Developments at the OSC: Investigative Report on Scott Bloch
Developments at the OSC: On December 18, 2013, the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) publicly released the report of investigation into various allegations of misconduct against former Special Counsel Scott Bloch. The investigation was conducted by the...
Developments at the OSC: Hiring PPP Case Settled
Developments at the OSC: On October 29, 2013, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) announced the settlement of a complaint against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) for misconduct in the hiring process.OSC has jurisdiction to enforce federal employee...
Developments at the OSC: OSC FY 2012 Annual Report Analyzed
Developments at the OSC: On September 10, 2013, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) issued its annual report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2012. This report demonstrated greatly increasing enforcement activity by OSC, but also increased hurdles for cases...
Developments at the OSC: Stay For Employee Resisting Illegal Order
Developments at the OSC: On July 29, 2013, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) received a stay order from the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), protecting an employee from threatened detail, in a case where the employee had refused an illegal order...
Developments at the OSC: MSPB Stays Bad Performance Evaluations
Developments at the OSC: On November 29, 2012, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) received a stay order from the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), protecting four whistleblowers from threatened reprisal, including negative performance evaluations and...