Retaliation Alleged at Interior; Special Master Says
Whistle-Blower in Indian Case Punished
The Washington Post
By: Bill Miller
Washington Post Staff Writer
February 22, 2001
A court-appointed special master said yesterday that he has reason to believe that the Interior Department retaliated against a longtime employee who criticized the government’s efforts at overhauling a trust fund system for Native Americans.
Special master Alan L. Balaran urged U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth to launch contempt-of-court proceedings against former interior secretary Bruce Babbitt, mid-level Interior officials and government lawyers over the employee’s treatment. The recommendation marked yet another round of controversy in a long-running court fight over the government’s management of billions of dollars in Indian trust funds.
The employee, Mona Infield, was a senior computer specialist assigned to the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ national records center in Albuquerque. She was stripped of her supervisory responsibilities and removed from any trust reform work last March after she exposed problems in the bureau’s handling of the trust accounts. Since then, Infield has remained on the payroll but has no job duties. She said she spends her time at home, waiting for her next assignment.
“I’m extremely pleased the special master wants to get to the bottom of this,” Infield said. “I really am looking forward to having this resolved. I’m 42 years old. I miss working. I never had a vacation like this.”
Interior spokeswoman Stephanie Hanna, in a statement issued yesterday, said: “We regret the recommendation of the special master, but we will be prepared to offer evidence at a hearing that would support the department’s position that no retaliatory actions have been taken against Mona Infield.”
In a 16-page report, Balaran said he found “sufficient evidence” to show that Infield was punished by her supervisors for speaking out. Such reprisals would violate an order issued by Lamberth in 1999 that protected witnesses from retaliation, he said.
If Lamberth convenes contempt proceedings, it would mark the second time he has taken that step in the trust fund fight. Two years ago, Lamberth found Babbitt and then-Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin in contempt of court for failing to ensure that records were turned over to lawyers representing Indians. Lamberth later ordered the government to pay $ 625,000 to cover legal fees incurred by the Indians. He also ordered the government to overhaul the trust fund system; that ruling has been appealed.
The underlying court battle stems from allegations that the government has mismanaged Indian trust funds for at least 100 years. The trust accounts, which cover at least 300,000 Indians, were set up to compensate Native Americans for use of their land. Royalties from the sale of petroleum, timber and other natural resources are supposed to be channeled into the accounts, which are passed through generations. Each year, about $ 500 million is pumped into the trusts. But lawyers for the Native Americans contend that a minimum of $ 10 billion is owed due to shoddy record-keeping and bungling.
Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet tribe and the lead plaintiff in the Indians’ lawsuit, said contempt proceedings could protect other whistle-blowers. “This is the only way it’s going to hit home with them,” she said.
Dennis M. Gingold, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the judge should consider jailing those responsible for what happened to Infield. “Confinement may be the best way to get their attention,” he said. “A little hard time, and maybe they’ll learn.”
Although no evidence has surfaced linking Babbitt to Infield’s troubles, Gingold and co-counsel Keith Harper argued that he helped create an atmosphere that fostered intimidation. “We’re hoping the hearing will reveal how high up this goes,” Harper said.
Infield’s initial criticisms focused on activities surrounding last year’s move of the trust funds’ records center from New Mexico to Reston. She submitted a court affidavit alleging that contractors working on the move had access to trust fund records even though they had no security clearances or authority to handle them. In the wake of her claims, Lamberth issued an order to safeguard the records during the move.
Until she spoke out, Infield said, she had a job offer that would have permitted her to remain in Albuquerque for four years before moving to Reston. That plan evaporated, she said, and she was offered a lesser six-month assignment in New Mexico. Government lawyers said Infield could have moved with other employees to Reston but did not do so.
| 
