Supreme Court: Whistleblower Law Protects OC Air Marshal Fired By TSA
ORANGE COUNTY (CBSLA.com) — The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that legal protection for whistleblowing extends to a former air marshal fired by the TSA for releasing what it considered sensitive information.
"We were brought in for an emergency briefing saying that we were going to be imminently attacked by terrorists on flights, and to be on your guard," Orange County resident Robert MacLean told CBS2/KCAL9's Amy Johnson.
The former air marshal said he was surprised to received a text three days later that air marshals would no longer be used on long or late-night flights.
"I thought that was a mistake. And I called the supervisor to find out what was going on, and he said, 'Yeah, the agency has run out of money.'"
MacLean, who said he was among the first class of 35 air marshals in 2001, contaced the inspector general. After getting no response, he reached out to news media.
His story was published anonymously in 2003.
Two years later, his identity was uncovered and the TSA gave him the ax five months later.
"The TSA said that a violation of sensitive security information, although unclassified, was criminal," MacLean said.
The TSA never ended up following through with the plan to eliminate air marshals on long and overnight flights.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 vote in MacLean's favor, extending whistleblowing protection for exposing government wrongdoing.
"It's a very good feeling and I was very confident that the Supreme Court was going to do this right," the O.C. man said.
The federal government responded to the court's ruling by warning that "Allowing MacLean to gain whistleblower status would only encourage other federal employees to divulge secret information, posting a future threat to public safety."
Despite Wednesday's decision, there's not guarantee that the TSA will offer MacLean his job back.
