Mission: The Government Accountability Project (GAP) is a 30-year-old nonprofit public interest group that promotes government and corporate accountability by advancing occupational free speech, defending whistleblowers, and empowering citizen activists. We pursue this mission through our Nuclear Safety, International Reform, Corporate Accountability, Food & Drug Safety, and Federal Employee/National Security programs. GAP is the nation's leading whistleblower protection organization.
Current Program Highlights
2/5/2010
Anyone Can Whistle – A Major GAP Event on February 17
Dear GAP Supporter:
You are cordially invited to a major event taking place in New York City on February 17.
Anyone Can Whistle: The Essential Role of the Whistleblower in American Society
Presented by GAP, Participant Media, and The Paley Center for Media
7 p.m. EST
25 West 52nd St., New York, NY 10019
This entertaining evening will feature celebrities, elected officials, civic leaders, and legendary whistleblowers whose heroism has put criminals behind bars and saved countless lives. It will provide an uplifting message of what is needed for whistleblowers to continue safeguarding the public, and what actions you can take to support pending corporate whistleblower legislation. Click here for more information.
1/26/2010
Update on Jorge Vila v. Inter-American Investment Corporation
On January 7th, 2010, the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC), the private sector lending arm of the IDB, decided not to appeal the decision of the US District Court of Appeals obliging the multinational development bank to waive its immunity. The IIC/IDB has been sued by Jorge Vila, an independent banking consultant in emerging markets, for unjust enrichment. Vila bases his lawsuit on his claim that the IIC solicited his services as a financial expert, accepted them and benefited from them, but subsequently refused to pay for them.
GAP Hosts Discussion About Racial Issues at the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank
Today from 6-8 p.m. GAP will host a round-table conversation at the Cullen Room at the new Busboys and Poets (5th & K location) concerning recent evidence from whistleblowers showing that racial discrimination remains a challenge at the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Following the discussion, the participants and the audience will consider the impact of discrimination in international development agencies and propose steps the Banks might take to improve their diversity profiles and address the socioeconomic problems that affect the Afro-descendant population.
GAP Statement on Administrative Review Board Appointments
Today, GAP applauds the appointments of new Chairman Paul Igasaki and Vice Chair Cooper Brown to the Administrative Review Board, which issues final agency decisions for the Secretary of Labor in whistleblower protection cases. Both Igasaki and Brown have proven track records of lifelong commitments to employee rights. Click here to read the press release.
12/14/2009
OSC Honors Katrina Pumps Whistleblower with 2009 Public Service Award
GAP client Maria Garzino, United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) mechanical and civil engineer, will be awarded the 2009 Public Servant Award of the Year by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) on Wednesday, December 16.
Garzino is credited with revealing the inadequate state of New Orleans floodwater pumps built by the USACE after Hurricane Katrina. The disclosures, which both the Department of Defense Inspector General’s (DoDIG) office and USACE fought for years, showcase how New Orleans residents are still in great danger if flooding occurs again.
The award will be presented to Garzino this Wednesday at the OSC San Francisco Bay Area Field Office (in Oakland), at 1301 Clay St., Suite 1220N.
GAP Sponsors National Webinar on CSPIA's Whistleblower Provision
In conjunction with the National Employment Lawyers Association, GAP recently sponsored a first-class national webinar on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CSPIA) whistleblower provision. In a one-hour session, accompanied by online print materials, GAP lawyers walked through the fine points of the Act’s legislative history, its procedural and substantive provisions, and offered practice tips based upon decades of collective experience in representing whistleblowers.
Prompted by so-called “killer toys,” the CSPIA includes a little reported section empowering some 20 million private sector employees to blow the whistle on unsafe products. GAP was instrumental in getting this language put in the law.
GAP is helping to make sure this law is thoroughly briefed by plaintiffs’ lawyers so that judges can’t ignore Congress’ clear intention to shield whistleblowers who speak out about unsafe products.
D.C. Fire Chief Deposition Video Showcases Questionable Statements, Behavior
In early October, the GAP conducted and filmed a deposition of Washington, D.C. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin in relation to the lawsuit of former Fire Department General Counsel Theresa Cusick. Chief Rubin’s testimony about events as he sees them may be eye-opening to other D.C. government officials, the City Council and the public. For example, in his testimony, Chief Rubin refers to the actions of Councilmember Phil Mendelson as “disrespectful,” voices displeasure at “a woman barking at me,” and as a firefighter and officer with nearly 40 years experience, claims to be offended by profanities he alleges Cusick used.
New charges filed yesterday by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) allege that the accounting fraud at India’s Satyam Computer Services Ltd. took in approximately $1 billion more than Satyam CEO Ramalinga Raju originally admitted. When Raju confessed to India’s largest corporate fraud in January, he admitted that he had invented about $1.5 billion in fake assets. As the scandal has unfolded, however, over the course of the year, it appears that even Raju’s confession is a fabrication.
Tomorrow, November 20, the GAP and the American University Washington College of Law will sponsor a day-long conference focusing on problems with the current food safety policy structure in America, and how to improve upon it. The conference, Empowering Employees to Protect Food Integrity, starts at 9:30 next Friday.
This symposium acknowledges the role of employees as a first line of defense against food adulteration. Expert panelists will discuss food integrity issues, as well as new and pending laws (including whistleblower protections). Specifically, panelists will address legal and legislative reforms, immigrant rights, humane handling, corporate farming, and the role of labor in food safety.
Today at 11 a.m., the case of GAP client Robert MacLean will be heard before the Merit Systems Protection Board. MacLean was fired for blowing the whistle on actions taken by the Transportation Security Administration to cancel Air Marshal service on cross-country flights during a ‘Code Red’ hijacker alert period. Years after revealing this disclosure, which resulted in the canceling of the unsafe order, MacLean was fired for his part in revealing “sensitive security information” – a pseudo-classification level that was retroactively applied to the information in MacLean’s disclosure.
Empowering Employees to Protect Food Integrity: A GAP Conference
In 1906, Upton Sinclair wrote his groundbreaking novel “The Jungle.” In the book, Sinclair decried the inhumane treatment of workers in the meatpacking industry and in so doing also brought to light the tandem issue of food safety. Then, as now, food integrity and workers’ rights remain inextricably intertwined.
On November 20, GAP will be presenting “Empowering Employees to Protect Food Integrity,” a conference at the American University Washington College of Law. The conference aims to promote understanding of the importance of workers in protecting food integrity. Expert speakers, moderators, and panelists will discuss a wide variety of issues including: the role of labor, legal and legislative reforms, scientific advancements in food safety, immigrant rights, humane handling, and corporate farming.
Report Identifies Racial Inequality in IDB Projects and Employment
A new report prepared by GAP shows that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the most important multilateral lender to Latin America, fails to promote racial equality adequately. The issue affects the identification, preparation, and implementation of IDB programs and projects in the region, as well as the Bank’s hiring, retention, and promotion practices.
Trial Over Umatilla Mercury-Laden Mustard Agent Burning Starts Today
The Government Accountability Project (GAP), on behalf of Oregon environmental group GASP, the Oregon Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club, and other petitioners, is arguing in Circuit Court today that the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission (ECQ) and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) have not followed proper procedures in determining the ‘best available technology’ for disposing of mercury-laced mustard agent at the Umatilla Chemical Depot near Hermiston, Oregon.
Anti-Corruption and Whistleblower Advocacy Groups Urge Holder to Review UBS Whistleblower Case
The National Whistleblowers Center (NWC), the Government Accountability Project (GAP) and the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, urging him to review the case of Bradley Birkenfeld, the international banker who blew the whistle on secret offshore accounts at UBS Bank in Switzerland. On August 21, Mr. Birkenfeld was sentenced to three years and four months in prison for his actions, despite the fact that UBS’s tax fraud scheme never would have been discovered without Mr. Birkenfeld’s disclosure. Click here to read the letter to Attorney General Eric Holder Click here to read the press release
10/20/2009
IIC's Efforts To Invoke Immunities Denied Again In Vila Case
On October 5th 2009, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied a request filed by the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) for a hearing en banc of its motion to dismiss claims filed by Jorge Vila, a former consultant.Vila filed his claim against the IIC – the private sector lending arm of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) – in October 2006, and since then the Courts have turned back repeated efforts by the IIC to invoke its immunities.This case is now expected to go to trial before the District Court, where significant issues related to the transparency, internal audit and controls and accountability of international organizations are likely to be raised. Click here to read a report by GAP's International Reform Program Click here to read the 2008 IIC Memo Opinion Motion to Dismiss
10/13/2009
D.C. Firefighter Terminated For Whistleblowing
Firefighter Vanessa Coleman, previously a Captain with the D.C. Fire & Emergency Medical Services (F&EMS) Department and a 19-year veteran of the force, has been fired from her position as a result of blowing the whistle on wrongful actions taken against her by Department officials. Click here to read the press release
10/1/2009
GAP, POGO Praise Sen. McCaskill’s Contractor Whistleblower Bill
Today, GAP and the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) praised Senator Claire McCaskill’s introduction of legislation to make “best practice” whistleblowers rights, first passed in the stimulus bill, permanent for all federal government contractors.
GAP is proud to announce its co-sponsorship of the first Whistleblower Film Series – part of the 9th annual DC Labor FilmFest. The series is free and open to the public, and will be held on Thursday evenings in October, starting tonight, at 6:30 p.m. at the Capitol Visitor’s Center entrance on the East Front of the US Capitol Building.
On June 4, 2009, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka annulled the sale of the Sri Lanka Insurance Company (SLIC) to private interests, causing the ownership of SLIC to revert to the government. As a result of the court case, documents establishing the complicity of auditors from Price Waterhouse Coopers and Ernst and Young in the unethical and illicit transaction came to light. To date, however, neither company has been sanctioned and none of the individuals responsible has been held to account.
UPDATE: In a shocking decision handed down September 24th, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka overturned its own previous ruling and will allow P.B. Jayasundara to return to public office despite his orchestration of the unlawful privatization of the former public enterprise Lanka Marine Services, Ltd. LMSL) in August, 2002.
OSC Report Substantiates Allegations of Defective Hydraulic Pumps in New Orleans
An independent evaluation released in June by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), relying on the assessment of an independent engineer, has determined that there are serious safety and reliability issues with hydraulic pumps that were installed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. These pumps are designed, in case of emergency, to move flood water away from the city to the lake side of the floodgates. Despite repeated internal reports that the pumps were faulty, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Department of Defense Inspector General (DoDIG) have repeatedly denied inherent flaws in the hydraulic pumps since 2007.
GAP client Maria Garzino, a USACE mechanical and civil engineer, was the Pump Team Installation Leader who blew the whistle on several problems that render the pumps ineffective. This new report substantiates her allegations.
Whistleblower Kunal Saha Wins Supreme Court Case In India Against Medical Establishment
The Supreme Court (SC) of India handed down a landmark judgment on August 7, 2009, upholding the claim of medical negligence brought by Dr. Kunal Saha against four doctors and the Advanced Medicare Research Institute in Kolkata. The Court held the doctors and hospital guilty of negligent treatment, causing the death of Dr. Saha’s wife, Anuradha Saha, in 1998. In the Judgment, the SC also set out extensive new guidelines and regulations that physicians and hospitals must follow in treating patients.
GAP Report Details how Corrupt Privitization Does Not Deter IMF Lending to Sri Lanka
On July 24th, the Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a 20-month standby arrangement worth $2.6 billion (U.S.) for the government of Sri Lanka. According to the IMF’s mission chief for Sri Lanka, the lending will help the government to reverse the decline in tax revenue suffered over the past few years. The IMF is on the record, however, recognizing that budget deficits and the lack of reserves are the result of a reluctance on the part of successive governments to implement measures necessary to safeguard state assets and collect revenues. Among other things, two Supreme Court decisions handed down since June 2008 show specifically that corruption and fraud favoring private interests in the sale of state-owned enterprises, a policy promoted by the Fund itself, together with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), are partially to blame.
GAP gratefully acknowledges the research and contributions to this paper of Consultants 21 Limited, Colombo, Sri Lanka, www.consultants21.com.
