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Washington, D.C.— A federal appeals court has issued, for the second time, a ruling that prevents the narrowing of whistleblower rights for federal employees, a decision hailed by the leader of the nation’s largest independent union of federal employees.

“Whistleblower rights are a critical element in an effective and transparent government,” said President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). “Rather than look to compromise them, they should be broadened and expanded for all federal workers.”

The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is the second time the court has reversed the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) in litigation involving Teresa Chambers, former chief of the U.S. Park Police.

President Kelley applauded the ruling. “This decision once again has corrected an erroneous decision of the MSPB, which would have significantly narrowed the protection that is offered to employees who come forward to disclose what they reasonably believe are dangers to the public health and safety,” she said.

While NTEU is not a direct party to the Chambers case, the union has filed friend-of-the-court briefs in Chambers’ continuing litigation over her firing by the Department of the Interior in 2003. In a step taken only infrequently, the Federal Circuit invited NTEU to participate in the most recent oral argument in the case.

Chambers claimed whistleblower protections when she was fired for telling a newspaper reporter that inadequate staffing and resources were creating a threat to public safety at national monuments and other public spaces.

Initially, the MSPB upheld the firing, ruling that Chambers had to show the alleged dangers she described were not debatable among reasonable people; NTEU filed a brief in support of Chambers’ appeal to the Federal Circuit to take issue with that legal standard. The court ruled in her favor on the grounds raised by NTEU and sent the case back to the Board.

On remand, the MSBP again upheld the firing, which triggered a second Federal Circuit appeal, and another NTEU friend-of-the-court brief, given the clear importance of this case to federal employee whistleblower rights.

In ruling for Chambers a second time, the appeals court sent the case back to the MSBP to evaluate whether removal remains an appropriate remedy in light of the few remaining agency charges against her. But that return to the Board carries with it strict directions to determine whether the agency would have removed Chambers on those remaining changes and, if so, whether that penalty was reasonable.

The court further directed the Board to decide whether the agency had shown by clear and convincing evidence that it would have fired Chambers in the absence of her disclosures that are protected by her whistleblower rights.

“NTEU will continue to closely monitor this case,” President Kelley said. “Under no circumstances will NTEU simply look the other way on such a critical employee protection.”

As the largest independent federal union, NTEU represents 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.