Because Democracy is Not Free — we all have to work at it
Being a pro se appellant has been interesting. All of my statements and legal arguments, good or otherwise, are mine alone. In other words, for anyone looking to use pieces of my work, realize that I am a layperson with no legal background or expertise, other than having been through the MSPB and Federal Sector EEO [...]
Note to self: When blogging, be self-effacing. When blogging, everything takes place real-time. That means that all mistakes get put out there for dissemination and it is difficult to hide errors. So far, I’ve made at least two. Mistake 1 was minor, and I’ve corrected my blog post from 12/26 to reflect the time frame [...]
This has been an interesting week. I’ve been busier than usual — mostly procurement and administrative work, not necessarily sales — and, I’ve started hearing from more readers (yay!). Originally, I had planned to put together a piece about sexual harassment in the federal workplace, citing from a recent Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) newsletter [...]
On December 17, 2007, the Senate unanimously passed an amendment to chapter 23 of title 5, U.S. Code, to clarify the disclosures of information protected from prohibited personnel practices. I spent Christmas Day poring over the previous and current documentation. Several things stood out: This is a step in the right direction, a firming of [...]
The deadline for discovery requests has come and passed. The Department of Labor did not submit one. They must be confident that these cases will go away before a hearing is scheduled. Otherwise, why would their representative, Andrew Schultz, fail to submit the documentation? When I had attorneys representing me, the Agency sent a couple [...]
Stress can make smart people dumb. In government, where there does not seem to be any measure of productivity, if you stand up to bad practices, you can expect that someone above you will try to bring you down to their level. Don’t fall for it. Many years ago, I went to Mary Dryovage for legal [...]
TPM Muckraker’s post on the Justice Department’s resignation of John Tanner sparked the most unbelievable string of postings. When I visited this morning, there were 100 responses to the article. The most intriguing of them came from insiders emancipated by the fall of the King. Blogging does not make for good storytelling. However, if you [...]
Mystery emailer1 asked why I wouldn’t just call the local police if a crime took place at the Department of Labor. The answer is that they have no jurisdiction, not just in federal buildings, but on land leased to the federal government. The building at 71 Stevenson Place was under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security, [...]
Yes, I’m glad I left. Not that I really had any choice in the matter, but after reading this article from ABC News, I realize that I could have been sexually assaulted by Alf and that it would not be prosecuted by the Justice Department. What Jamie Leigh Jones is going through with Halliburton/KBR is terrible, but [...]
Secretary Elaine Chao came to the Department of Labor (DOL) with built-in credibility. In 1992, when she entered as President and CEO of the United Way, it was suffering from huge credibility problems and mismanagement. By 1996, her integrity turned around this large non-profit organization and restored trust to the organization. The importance of her [...]