The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is an independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency. Our basic authorities come from four federal statutes: the Civil Service Reform Act, the Whistleblower Protection Act, the Hatch Act, and the Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). read more

Protecting Federal Government Employees and Applicants from Prohibited Personnel Practices, including Reprisal for Whistleblowing

Recent Resolutions and Determinations

Providing a Safe Channel for Government Employees to Disclose Wrongdoing

Enforcing Restrictions on the Political Activity of Federal Government Employees and Employees of Certain State and Local Government Agencies

Protecting the Employment and Reemployment Rights of Veterans, Guardsmen, and Reservists

IMPORTANT NOTICE: OSC now has an expanded role in handling certain USERRA complaints involving federal agencies. For further information, please see USERRA Demonstration Project.

Special Counsel on CNN Regarding Mortuary Whistleblowers: “If the whistleblowers hadn’t come forward, we never would have known about this.”

Lerner: Lack of accountability at Dover – John King USA - CNN.com Blogs

In November, the Navy Central Adjudication Facility removed the threat of an indefinite suspension without pay from Franz Gayl and reinstated his security clearance. Last year, Mr. Gayl’s security clearance was stripped in the aftermath of his whistleblowing that the Marine Corps had failed to provide Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRSP) vehicles to service members in Iraq in a timely manner, which led to unnecessary deaths and injuries. Mr. Gayl was then put on leave with pay and was recently threatened with an indefinite suspension. In October, the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) had requested and obtained a stay through the Merit Systems Protection Board on the threat of Mr. Gayl’s indefinite suspension.