Special Counsel Cancels Award Ceremony for Whistle-Blower

[MountainLaurel]

A funny thing happened to Leroy Smith on his way to the Office of Special Counsel last week.

Smith, a prison safety manager who blew the whistle on life-threatening conditions in a prison-run factory, was to be honored Thursday afternoon by Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch as the office's Public Servant of the Year.

Bloch flew Smith and his wife in from Arizona, where they now live, put them up in a fancy hotel, invited media and dignitaries -- then, minutes before the event, canceled everything. Instead of an acrylic obelisk and 10 minutes of fame, Smith was left with a free hour and no idea what happened. Special counsel staffers wound up with a roomful of free catered food and almost -- but not for long -- as many questions as Smith.

"I'm very disappointed," Smith said. "And it's kind of fishy."

snip . . . And here's where it gets interesting:

And that, sadly, would have been that. Except for the special counsel staffers who came forward after Bloch pulled the rug out. McMullen's relative, they said, hadn't died suddenly, or even Thursday. Staff members had known for at least a day that McMullen would not attend the event, yet planning for it continued. McMullen could not be reached to comment.

Bloch scuttled Smith's fete, these employees believe, because he got wind of Smith's plan to take his award and head over to a news conference with Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Smith and the watchdog group -- which has criticized Bloch in the past -- planned to blast a whistle-blower investigation process that they believe is so lengthy, uncertain and short on employee protections that would-be whistle-blowers might decide it's not worth it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/10/AR2006091000790.html