TELG CLIENT WINS OVER $282,000.00 IN WHISTLEBLOWER CASE AGAINST UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Washington, DC -- On October 22, 2009 the D.C. Superior Court awarded Colin Browne total damages of over $282,000.00 against the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) for violations of the D.C. Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA). This is one of the largest damages awards in the history of the D.C. WPA.

The D.C. WPA protects public employees in the District from being wrongfully terminated for disclosing illegal activity.

Mr. Browne was a program coordinator for the UDC Career Counseling and Development Center. In 2007, Mr. Browne discovered that Kevin Naiker, the former Director of UDC’s “Team 100” retention program, and others were intentionally misrepresenting retention numbers. The “Team 100” retention program is a federally funded program for at-risk students.
Mr. Browne, fearing a potential federal investigation or loss of funding, made repeated disclosures to management, UDC’s Board of Trustees, and even to the President of the University. UDC failed to take corrective measures.

Mr. Browne also discovered that Mr. Naiker did not have a doctoral degree as he represented and that he was not licensed despite claiming to supervise Mr. Browne for his own licensure. Mr. Naiker retaliated against Mr. Browne by “auditing” his files, berating him in front of co-workers, passing him up for promotion, and ultimately terminating his employment.

R. Scott Oswald, Managing Principal with The Employment Law Group® law firm, a premier employment law firm based in D.C., stated, “This case is an extraordinary victory for whistleblower protection in the District of Columbia. I especially wish to acknowledge Mr. Browne who demonstrated tremendous courage and fortitude throughout his tenure at UDC and the course of this litigation.” A fee petition is currently pending.

The Employment Law Group® law firm specializes in representing employees in whistleblower, wrongful termination, and discrimination cases. To contact them regarding questions or comments, call R. Scott Oswald or David L. Scher at 202-331-3911.