Government Settles Halliburton Whistleblower Case
Washington, D.C. July 26, 2011. Today, the National Whistleblowers Center announced that the United States District Court in Washington D.C. gave its final approval of a settlement between Bunnatine "Bunny" Greenhouse and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. After a six year legal battle, the Army Corps agreed to pay Ms. Greenhouse $970,000 representing full restitution for lost wages, compensatory damages and attorneys fees. Ms. Greenhouse was notified that she was going to be removed from her position as the Army Corps chief contracting and procurement executive after being demoted out of the Senior Executive Service when she strongly objected, during the award of a secret contract granting Halliburton subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root ("KBR"), a no-compete, sole source, cost-plus $7 Billion contract as the invasion of Iraq was about to commence.
When the seriousness of her concerns were made public the Bush
Administration balked at removing Greenhouse and ordered that she remain
in her position until a meaningful investigation of her allegations was
completed by the DoD Inspector General (DoDIG). When no meaningful
investigation was launched, Ms. Greenhouse agreed to testify before the
Senate Democratic Policy Committee about the corrupt contracting
environment surrounding the award of the KBR contracts. As she was
about to appear the Army Corps' acting general counsel met with
Greenhouse advising that she did not have to testify before the
Congressional Committee and it would not be in her best interests to
testify. Undeterred, Ms. Greenhouse appeared and presented a powerful
account of the contract abuse surrounding the Restore Iraqi Oil (RIO)
awards and awards of other contracts to KBR. Her testimony helped usher
in legislation outlawing all of the abuses Greenhouse witnessed and the
Army made a publicized decision not to award anymore "Sweetheart
Contracts to KBR".
The Army Corps swiftly retaliated by removing Ms. Greenhouse from her
position and from the Senior Executive Service and stripped her of her
top-secret security clearance. From that point forward Ms. Greenhouse
received inappropriately downgraded performance reviews and the Corps of
Engineers refused to recognize her achievements, including her
willingness to take on the insurance industry's overcharging Defense
Base Act (DBA) Worker's Compensation insurance premiums for contractor
employees serving in war zones. Ms. Greenhouse single-handedly served
as the Project Manager and established a two-year pilot program that
ended up saving the government hundreds of millions of dollars. Her
achievement went unrecognized and her performance for that period
remained downgraded. Because of Ms. Greenhouse's tenacity and
insightful efforts, along with the enormous savings that were validated
by the Congressional Budget Office, Congress enacted into Law, for all
of DoD, the Risk-Pooling DBA Insurance Concept that was conceptualized
and managed by Ms. Greenhouse.
Ms. Greenhouse contested the retaliatory actions against her in a
lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
After extensive litigation, including filing for sanctions against the
Army Corps for failure to produce documents in discovery, the government
agreed to pay Ms. Greenhouse all of the monies she was entitled to
under law. The settlement totals $970,000.00, representing payment for
lost wages, compensatory damages and attorney fees. Ms. Greenhouse
will also retire at age 67 with full benefits.
Ms. Greenhouse issued the following statement on her settlement:
This has been a long and emotionally draining experience for me. I was
simply doing my job and protecting the public interest and was
retaliated against for doing so. I am thankful for the help I received
from the National Whistleblowers Center. Unfortunately, there are too
many federal employees who are in the same boat as I was. I hope that
the plight I suffered prompts the Administration and Congress to move
dedicated civil servants from second-class citizenry and to finally give
federal employees the legal rights that they need to protect the public
trust. I believe the civil/military position imbalances in
responsibility and decision making in this nation MUST be fixed for the
country's best interest and I firmly believe, regardless of the many
injustices to me as a professional, that integrity in government is not
an option, but an obligation.
Michael D. Kohn, President of the National Whistleblowers Center and attorney for Ms. Greenhouse responded to the settlement:
Bunny Greenhouse risked her job and career when she objected to the
gross waste of federal taxpayer dollars and illegal contracting
practices at the Army Corps of Engineers. She had the courage to
stand-alone and challenge powerful special interests. She exposed a
corrupt contracting environment where casual and clubby contracting
practices were the norm. Her courage led to sweeping legal reforms that
will forever halt the gross abuse she had the courage to expose. Bunny
Greenhouse epitomizes what government service is all about. Bunny
Greenhouse is an American hero.
This is a victory for every federal worker. We hope that it marks a
turning point in Administration policy. Whistleblowers serve the public
interest, save the taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars and are on
the front line fighting fraud and corruption. They need to be rewarded
and supported. Ms. Greenhouse was forced to fight for over six years,
enduring continued discrimination and retaliation. Under the settlement
Ms. Greenhouse will receive the full salary that she was illegally
denied by the Army Corps of Engineers and maximum amount of compensatory
damages permitted under law. Ms. Greenhouse will now be able to retire
from public service vindicated and with her full pension benefits.
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