Boston Globe: Ex-Blue Hills Bank Official Calls Ouster Unlawful

GAP client Graham Waiting has filed a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit against Blue Hills Bank in Massachusetts, where he served as the Vice President of Finance. Waiting alleges he was unlawfully terminated after raising concerns over the bank’s questionable accounting practices and risky investments. He says he was repeatedly rebuffed when he urged reforms and consequently fired after he brought his complaints to federal banking regulators.

Bloomberg BNA: Interview with Tom Devine

In this Q&A, GAP Legal Director Tom Devine discusses the latest challenges facing federal whistleblowers, including loopholes or limitations in existing protections and new tactics initiated by agencies to stifle truth-tellers. He also talks about expectations for the 114th Congress.

Key Quote: Devine: The question for the next two years is whether Congress will voluntarily abdicate its role in overseeing the civil service system and whether it will assert its authority against unilateral executive action by federal agencies in retaliating against whistle-blowers and weakening whistleblower protections.

Our role will remain the same. We’re helping to educate and train the federal workforce, including new federal employees, on the legal lay of the land. We’re teaching people about their rights.

Environmental Health News: Real American Idols

This article honors the passing of four science and environment icons in 2014 “whose impact will be felt for decades.” The list includes Rick Piltz, government whistleblower and founder of GAP’s Climate Science Watch.

Key Quote: Piltz became a classic whistleblower in 2005, quitting his government job, aligning with the Government Accountability Project (GAP) and handing the  story to The New York Times. The George W. Bush administration limited damage by parting ways with Cooney, who soon found work with ExxonMobil. Rick Piltz founded a widely read blog, Climate Science Watch, and toiled as an advocate for keeping ideology out of science until his death in October.