Elaine throws out whistleblower’s case three times
It’s been an eight-year ordeal for one National Parks Service whistleblower who first raised safety concerns about asbestos in his workplace in the year 2000.
The whistleblower, William Knox, says his superiors tried to retaliate against him first by firing him, and then by cutting his salary and responsibilities. Even though a judge already ruled for Knox, his case has three times been brought to Elaine Chao’s office for review, and three times, for three separate reasons, Elaine’s office threw out the case.
“Under the Bush administration, a whistleblower must survive the torture of the damned to get justice,” stated Adam Draper, PEER staff counsel, who filed the latest appeal to the Fourth Circuit. “Let’s hope that the third time is the charm for Bill Knox.”
The asbestos problem that Knox exposed at the Harper’s Ferry Job Corps Center has still not been fixed, however. Workers, students and members of the public who were and are exposed to friable asbestos have not been examined for adverse health effects. Moreover, none of Knox’s supervisors received even a reprimand for their response to the situation.
“Bill Knox’s experience is a textbook case of what is wrong with our system for protecting environmental whistleblowers,” added Draper. “From the point of view of workers’ rights, this Secretary of Labor should be re-titled Secretary of Toil and Trouble.”
Secretary of Toil and Trouble - I kind of like it! It’s a bit much to roll off the tongue, but it’s one heck of a lot more accurate for Elaine Chao than “Secretary of Labor.”
February 13th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Chao’s own agency is no stranger to illegal persecution of whistleblowers, and some of her field offices are certainly not the model for safe working conditions. Her satellite office in the high-rent section of Rosslyn is a classic example. Building code and fire code violations all over the place, hazardous chemicals stored in areas where employees are required to keep their lunches, no break rooms (except for the lawyers), ineffective ventillation, no handicap access to the main floor of the building (handicapped people are required to walk down a STEEP hill and use the garage entrance, where a huge sign prohibits pedestrian traffic), and no escape plan for a building that is 36 stories high.