by Bill Miller
Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washington Post
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.
for more information: click here
|
