FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 1/25/05 The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) filed two similar complaints for disciplinary action against Kansas City, Mo. based Social Security Administration (SSA) employees for sending politically partisan electronic mail messages while on duty, in violation of the Hatch Act. The OSC filed the separate complaints with the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSBP) on January 14, 2005. The complaint against Michael Davis alleges that he sent an e-mail message to about 27 of his SSA coworkers while on duty and in his federal office building. The message contained a widely-circulated picture of President George W. Bush in front of an American flag with the statement “I Vote the Bible.” The text of the message contains several statements in support of President Bush, a negative statement about Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry, and a statement urging that the reader to “Pass along the ‘I Vote the Bible’ button.” A similar complaint
against Leslye Sims, alleges that she sent an e-mail message to 22 people
while she was on duty and in her federal office building. The subject of the
e-mail was: “Why I am supporting John Kerry for President?” and is presented
as a letter that appears to be written by John Eisenhower, son of President
Eisenhower. The e-mail contained several reasons why the reader should vote
for Presidential candidate, John Kerry, and not support the Republican
Party. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is an independent investigative and prosecutorial agency and operates as a secure channel for disclosures of whistleblower complaints and abuse of authority. Its primary mission is to safeguard the merit system in Federal employment by protecting Federal employees and applicants from prohibited personnel practices, especially retaliation for whistleblowing. OSC also has jurisdiction over the Hatch Act and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). For more information please visit our web site at www.osc.gov or call 1-800-872-9855.
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