Kenneth Huffman, an Assistant Inspector General at the Office of Personnel Management, alleged that he made protected disclosures to Inspector General Patrick McFarland, including an accusation that McFarland had improperly preselected an employee for the Senior Executive Service. Huffman further alleged that he was removed after raising those concerns. The Merit Systems Protection Board initially held that it lacked jurisdiction to intervene under the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA), prompting litigation in Huffman v. Office of Personnel Management, decided by the Federal Circuit on August 21, 2001, at 263 F.3d 1341.
The dispute centered on whether WPA protection covered disclosures made through ordinary job duties, to supervisors or alleged wrongdoers, or to officials without authority to correct the misconduct. Although the court rejected the Justice Department’s broadest position—that only disclosures to officials with corrective authority qualified—the Federal Circuit reaffirmed restrictive reasoning from Horton v. Department of the Navy and Willis v. Department of Agriculture, and remanded only part of Huffman’s case. Special Counsel Elaine Kaplan said the rulings undermined Congress’s 1994 amendment declaring that “any” whistleblowing disclosure could be protected. Senator Carl Levin reiterated that criticism on the Senate floor in 2003. Congress’s stated intent and the court’s narrower doctrine remained in direct conflict, leaving federal employees exposed to retaliation when reporting misconduct through normal internal channels.
