Sec. 961. Improvements to whistleblower protection procedures
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/bill/114/s/2943/pap/section-961·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Paragraph
(2)of subsection
(b)of section 1034 of title 10, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: The actions considered for purposes of this section to be a personnel action prohibited by this subsection shall include any action prohibited by paragraph (1), including the threat to take any unfavorable action, the withholding or threat to withhold any favorable action, making or threatening to make a significant change in the duties or responsibilities of a member of the armed forces not commensurate with the member’s grade, a retaliatory investigation, and the failure of a superior to respond to retaliatory action or harassment by one or more subordinates taken against a member of which the superior knew or should have known. In this paragraph, the term retaliatory investigation means an investigation requested, directed, initiated, or conducted for the primary purpose of punishing, harassing, or ostracizing a member for making a protected communication. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to limit the ability of a commander to consult with a superior in the chain of command, an inspector general, or a judge advocate general on the disposition of a complaint against a member of the armed forces for an allegation of collateral misconduct or for a matter unrelated to a protected communication. Such consultation shall provide an affirmative defense against an allegation that a member requested, directed, initiated, or conducted a retaliatory investigation under this section. . Subsection (c)(4) of such section is amended— by redesignating subparagraph
(E)as subparagraph (F); and by inserting after subparagraph
(D)the following new subparagraph (E): If the Inspector General makes a preliminary determination in an investigation under subparagraph
(D)that there are reasonable grounds to believe that a personnel action prohibited by subsection
(b)has occurred and the personnel action will result in an immediate hardship to the member alleging the personnel action, the Inspector General shall promptly notify the Secretary of the military department concerned or the Secretary of Homeland Security, as applicable, of the hardship, and such Secretary shall take such action as such Secretary considers appropriate. . Subsection (e)(1) of such section is amended by striking subsection (c)(4)(E) and inserting subsection (c)(4)(F) . Paragraph
(3)of subsection
(e)of such section is amended to read as follows: Not later than 180 days after the commencement of an investigation of an allegation under subsection (c)(4), and every 180 days thereafter until the transmission of the report on the investigation under paragraph
(1)to the member concerned, the Inspector General conducting the investigation shall submit a notice on the investigation described in subparagraph
(B)to the following: The member. The Secretary of Defense. The Secretary of the military department concerned, or the Secretary of Homeland Security in the case of a member of the Coast Guard when the Coast Guard is not operating as a service in the Navy. Each notice on an investigation under subparagraph
(A)shall include the following: A description of the current progress of the investigation. An estimate of the time remaining until the completion of the investigation and the transmittal of the report required by paragraph
(1)to the member concerned. . Paragraph
(2)of subsection
(g)of such section is amended to read as follows: In resolving an application described in paragraph
(1)for which there is a report of the Inspector General under subsection (e)(1), a correction board— shall review the report of the Inspector General; may request the Inspector General to gather further evidence; may receive oral argument, examine and cross-examine witnesses, and take depositions; and shall consider a request by a member or former member in determining whether to hold an evidentiary hearing. . Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General of the Department of Defense shall prescribe uniform standards for the following: The investigation of allegations of prohibited personnel actions under section 1034 of title 10, United States Code (as amended by this section), by the Inspector General and the Inspectors General of the military departments. The training of the staffs of the Inspectors General referred to in subparagraph
(A)on the conduct of investigations described in that subparagraph. Commencing 180 days after prescription of the standards required by paragraph (1), the Inspectors General referred to in that paragraph shall comply with such standards in the conduct of investigations described in that paragraph and in the training of the staffs of such Inspectors General in the conduct of such investigations.