Blogs

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (ARB), sitting en banc, issued a 3-2 decision in favor of Complainant Robert Powers on March 20, 2015 in the case of Powers v. Union Pacific Railroad Company, ARB Case No. 13-034, ALJ Case No. 2010-FRS-030, holding that a lower burden of proof applied to employee claims brought under corporate whistleblower statutes. Mr. Powers was represented at the hearing on January 14, 2015 by NELA member Stephen M. Kohn of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, LLP (Washington, DC). NELA joined the National Whistleblowers Legal Defense and Education Fund, Truckers Justice Center, and Teamsters for a Democratic Union in ...

On December 17, 2014, NELA joined the National Whistleblowers Legal Defense and Education Fund, Truckers Justice Center and Teamsters for a Democratic Union to file an amicus brief in support of Complainant Robert Powers in the case of Powers v. Union Pacific RR Co., Case No. 13-034, pending before the Administrative Review Board (ARB) of the U.S. Department of Labor. The ARB is reviewing this appeal en banc and invited submission of amicus briefs from interested entities. This case presents the pure legal issue of whether the majority opinion in an earlier case before the ARB, Fordham v. Fannie Mae, articulated the correct contributing factor causation ...

On July 21, 2014, NELA filed a motion for leave and submitted a proposed amicus curiae brief in Turner v. Inzer , Case No. 14-11357, pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Defendant Inzer refused to consent to the filing of the amicus brief. The major issues on appeal are whether: (1) attorneys' fees were properly awarded to defendant under Christianburg Garment Co. v. EEOC and Sullivan v. Sch. Bd. Of Pinellas Cty. ; and (2) attorneys' fees were calculated properly pursuant to Fox v. Vice . Counsel for plaintiff Turner is NELA member Lisa Lambert, Of Counsel, Law Office of Marie A. Mattox, P.A., Tallahassee, FL, www.mattoxlaw.com ...

On February 28, 2013, NELA filed an amicus brief urging the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) to give retroactive effect to provisions of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA) in Day v. Dept. of Homeland Security, MSPB Docket No. DC-1221-12-0528-W-1. Mr. Day, a Coast Guard civilian employee, allegedly suffered retaliation after blowing the whistle in July 2010 on impropriety in an aircraft procurement contract. Mr. Day reported his concerns to his supervisor, and was acting within the scope of his normal duties. After suffering reprisal, Mr. Day filed a whistleblower reprisal complaint with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), and then ...