We conducted this investigation in response to a reprisal complaint alleging that (Subject 1) and (Subject 2) took personnel actions against (the Complainant) in reprisal for making protected disclosures concerning Subject 1’s behavior and management of the Tavern at Hanscom Air Force Base (AFB), Massachusetts. Specifically, the Complainant alleged that Subject 1 and Subject 2 removed her from certain days of the work schedule, arbitrarily reduced her paycheck to reflect fewer hours than she worked, removed her from the schedule entirely, and deducted from her tips.
The Complainant made six protected disclosures from January 17 through September 11, 2023: one to Subject 1, one to Subject 2, one to the Tavern manager, one to human resources (HR), and two to Inspectors General (IG). After making these protected disclosures, the Complainant experienced two qualifying personnel actions taken by Subject 1, who removed her from all Friday shifts and from the schedule entirely. We determined that arbitrarily reducing the Complainant’s paycheck and deducting from her tips were not qualifying personnel actions. Furthermore, Subject 1 knew of three of the Complainant’s protected disclosures before taking the personnel actions. Subject 2 did not take any personnel actions against the Complainant.