Whistleblower gets the ax: Alcatraz employee released after talking to the Guardian

[Omaha Steve]

http://alcatrazunion.com/node/1474

Whistleblower gets the ax: Alcatraz employee released after talking to the Guardian
Submitted by saoirse on Wed, 2007-03-21 17:14.

BY AMANDA WITHERELL
http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=3154

Dan Cooke, an educator and historical interpreter who guided tours of Alcatraz Island for the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, has been fired in the wake of a Guardian article that quoted him complaining about a sewage spill in the Bay.

On March 3, 2007 Cooke was informed by his supervisor, John Moran, that his position had been terminated because there weren’t enough hours available to keep him employed.

However, the day before Cooke was fired, and for several days after, the GGNPC website was advertising an immediate opening for the same position as Cooke’s.

That posting has since been removed from the web site.

Cooke has filed an administrative complaint with the United States Department of Labor against GGNPC and NPS, claiming he should be protected under the whistleblower provisions of several federal environmental and health safety acts.

Cooke was a source for an article about possible sewage spills on the island (see “Smelly Situation,” Dec. 27, 2006) and told the Guardian that on Oct. 13 he witnessed Alcatraz Cruises boat crew hosing raw sewage into the bay from an overflowing holding tank on the island. The spill was also witnessed by the captain of a passing ferry boat, who reported what he saw to California’s Environmental Protection Agency.

National Park Service spokespeople dismissed those claims in interviews with us for the article and said it was their understanding the spill in question was just salt water.

Cooke was a part-time, “on-call” employee and his hours often fluctuated with the seasons. In December, he took two months off to visit his family in England, but since his return in late January he had not been scheduled for any shifts.

FULL story at link.

[youngdem]

1. Perhaps the Dems should pass a national Whistleblower Act with teeth

And dare Bush to veto it. That would show as clear as day Bush's attitude toward open government, especially in the context of the current US Atty fiasco.