Here Is The Story From GOVEXEC.com
Click Here To Read It at the source
or "save a click" & read it here on CombatCarry by scrolling down to:
CUTTING A DEAL
LEGAL BRIEFS
November 11, 2005
Speaking Out
By Daniel Pulliam
[email protected]
The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California is attempting to block a Homeland Security Department policy that limits federal air marshals' ability to speak publicly about their jobs.
The ACLU maintains that the policy excessively restricts the marshals' rights to free speech and keeps whistleblowers from reporting mismanagement or wrongdoing, putting public safety at risk.
The civil liberties group has filed a motion for a temporary restraining order in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Eastern Division as part of a case involving air marshal Frank Terreri. The motion comes in anticipation of a House Judiciary Committee report on management of the Federal Air Marshal Service, which Terreri wants to discuss publicly in his capacity as president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.
"The policy is unconstitutional and leaves air marshals in the untenable position of not knowing whether they have First Amendment rights to participate in public discussion that could improve the safety of the airline industry," said Peter Eliasberg, a First Amendment rights attorney for the ACLU of Southern California.
Terreri has worked at the Air Marshal Service since January 2002 and was removed from active flight duty and placed on administrative duty after he e-mailed a co-worker with concerns about a profile of an air marshal in People magazine.
Dave Adams, an agency spokesman, said he could not comment on pending litigation or on the policy.
"I don't want to talk about the policy because it's part of the litigation process," Adams said. "We'll let it flow through the courts and see what happens."
According to the ACLU, Federal Air Marshal Service Director Thomas Quinn initiated four investigations of Terreri, including two after he filed a lawsuit against Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and other officials in April. Terreri returned to active flight duty after filing the lawsuit.
Portions of the ACLU's request for a temporary restraining order were sealed from public view because the release of information about an investigation could result in discipline or criminal action against Terreri, the civil liberties group said.
Cutting a Deal
The Justice Department has reached a settlement with a Lynnwood, Wash.-based knife and tool company accused of breaking a law intended to protect reservists' employment rights.
The complaint alleged that S.O.G. Specialty Knives Inc. violated the 1994 Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act by improperly discharging a Coast Guard reservist when he was called to active duty in January 2003. The complaint also claimed that S.O.G. failed to properly re-employ the reservist in a position of similar status and duties once he returned.
USERRA guards the reemployment rights of military service members or veterans when they return from active duty.
After completing an investigation, the Labor Department's Veterans' Employment and Training Service referred the Coast Guard reservist's complaint to the Justice Department.
The knife company, in a consent decree that must be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, agreed to compensate the plaintiff an unpublished sum.
"We have a duty to our men and women in the military to enforce vigorously their legal right to be free of employment discrimination on the basis of their military service," said Bradley Schlozman, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's civil rights division. "We are very pleased to see a positive resolution in this case."
Schlozman said the knife company cooperated with the investigation and offered the settlement, but denied any wrongdoing.
S.O.G. Specialty Knives did not return calls requesting comment.
According to the Justice Department, this is the eighth USERRA complaint filed since the civil rights division received enforcement authority for such cases in September 2004.
