CBP AMO Whistleblower Reaches Settlement Over Helicopter Safety Disclosures
A settlement is reached between U.S. Customs and Border Protection and a whistleblower who alleged retaliation after outing safety issues with CBP’s helicopter fleet.
The settlement was brokered by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) for an undisclosed “six-figure” amount.
The whistleblower, who has since retired and was previously a safety director at CBP’s Air and Marine Operations (AMO), went to OSC with a complaint alleging agency misconduct and retaliation for making the disclosure.
The OSC investigation found “credible evidence” that AMO retaliated by creating a hostile work environment for the whistleblower, with a then-executive director repeatedly disparaging the whistleblower in front of peers, subordinates, and managers, and expressing “hostility” toward the whistleblower’s complaint.
According to OSC, other managers at AMO saw this happening and “failed to adequately respond to the whistleblower's pleas for assistance.”
Helicopter Safety Concerns
According to OSC, the whistleblower told the office that a majority of AMO’s helicopter fleet was in violation of operational requirements, because they lacked crash resistant fuel tanks.
The whistleblower also alleged that the executive director improperly ordered the removal of critical information from an Aircraft Mishap report about the crash of a helicopter in spring of 2021, to “reduce the potential for negative press coverage and the agency's exposure to legal liability.”
OSC referred the allegations to CBP which conducted its own investigation and confirmed that 81 helicopters in the fleet did not have the required crash resistant fuel tanks, although helicopters certified prior to October 1994 were not subject to the requirements.
The investigation also substantiated the whistleblower's allegation that then executive director had directed that critical information be removed from the Aircraft Mishap Report, stating that it represented a “litigation hazard."