Exclusive: Dwayne Bensing says he faced retaliation for reporting the department’s fast-track treatment of a case affecting transgender students.
In December, the Education Department began termination proceedings for an employee who acted as a whistleblower over the department’s treatment of transgender students, HuffPost has learned.
Elizabeth Hill, a spokesperson for the Department of Education, says it has not received the complaint yet and thus cannot comment on it, though HuffPost provided a list of allegations within it. When Bensing was confronted by his bosses about disclosing the emails a month later, he confessed, explaining he was concerned about “partisan overreach,” “abuse of power” and the “violation of law and procedures,” according to documents reviewed by HuffPost. By September, he had been sidelined and given administrative duties. In December, Bensing received a letter from officials proposing his removal from his position and from federal service.
The Whistleblower Protection Act holds that employees have the authority to disclose government information if they believe they are witnessing a violation of rules, laws or regulations, gross mismanagement or an abuse of power. The only exceptions are when the disclosure is specifically prohibited by law or required to be kept secret by executive order in the interest of national security.
Complaints of whistleblower retaliation increased 775% between fiscal year 2016 and 2018, according to a budget request from the Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General. In September 2019, the Education Department proposed a five-day suspension for a budget analyst who had leaked information to The Washington Post ― a punishment far less severe than what was proposed for Bensing.
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