{"id":17230,"date":"2016-01-05T00:00:22","date_gmt":"2016-01-05T04:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=17230"},"modified":"2016-01-05T12:26:34","modified_gmt":"2016-01-05T16:26:34","slug":"federal-judge-permits-usda-whistleblower-case-to-proceed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2016\/01\/federal-judge-permits-usda-whistleblower-case-to-proceed\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Judge Permits USDA Whistleblower Case to Proceed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>(Beyond Pesticides, January 5, 2016)<\/em> An administrative court judge has agreed to hear a case filed by a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) pollinator researcher who says his \u00a0firing by the agency \u00a0was retaliation for his \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2015\/08\/decline-in-biodiversity-and-pest-problems-intricately-linked\/\">cutting edge research<\/a> \u00a0linking neonicotinoid insecticides to declinining monarch butterfly populations, which \u00a0has drawn \u00a0national attention and international recognition. Late last year, Judge Patricia M. Miller of the Merit Systems Protection Board denied USDA&#8217;s request to dismiss a claim filed \u00a0by Johnathan Lundgren, PhD, a USDA employee for eleven years with high accolades.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-16878\" src=\"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/jonathan-lungdren.jpg\" alt=\"jonathan lungdren\" width=\"243\" height=\"365\" align=\"right\" \/>In April of last year, Dr. Lundgren published a study in <em>The Science of Nature<\/em> (<a href=\"http:\/\/bioscienceresource.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Pecenka-and-Lundgren-2015-Early-On-line.pdf\">pdf<\/a>) that shows that clothianidin, a neonicotinoid insecticide \u00a0often used to coat seeds, kills monarch butterfly larvae in the laboratory. On August 3, 2015, USDA imposed a 14-day suspension against Dr. Lundgren for submitting the study and for a paperwork error in his travel authorization for his invited presentation about his research to a panel of the National Academy of Sciences, as well as to a USDA stakeholder group, the Pennsylvania No-Till Alliance. The suspension was cut to 14 days from 30 after Dr. Lundgren filed an appeal.<\/p>\n<p>In October 2015, Dr. Lundgren, respresented by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), f<a href=\"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2015\/10\/usda-scientist-punished-for-neonic-study-files-complaint\/\">iled a whistleblower complaint against USDA<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.peer.org\/assets\/docs\/usda\/10_26_15_Lundgren_Whistleblower_%20Complaint.pdf\">claiming it<\/a> \u201cgave no substantive reason\u201d for denying Dr. Lundgren\u2019s travel request and made \u201crepeated attempts\u201d\u00a6to impede or deter his research and resultant publications.\u201d Dr. Lundgren\u2019s research on the harm <a href=\"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/programs\/bee-protective-pollinators-and-pesticides\/chemicals-implicated\">neonicotinoids<\/a> pose to monarch butterflies reflects a <a href=\"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/programs\/bee-protective-pollinators-and-pesticides\/what-the-science-shows\">growing scientific consensus<\/a> that these chemicals present significant risks to declining pollinator populations. However, as stated in the complaint, despite receiving approval for the paper through proper protocols, higher-ups at USDA deemed the research \u201csensitive,\u201d and claimed that Dr. Lundgren had not received approval to publish the study.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Miller\u2019s ruling is a strong rebuke to an agency that asserted Dr. Lundgren\u2019s complaint was \u201cfrivolous\u201d and based on information that was \u201cspeculative and unsupported.\u201d USDA and Dr. Lundgren were ordered by the court to convene a status conference on January 6, 2016, to discuss a potential settlement, according to the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/federal-eye\/wp\/2015\/12\/23\/judge-green-lights-whistleblower-claim-against-usda-by-pesticide-researcher\/\">Washington Post<\/a>.<\/em> \u201cWe were very pleased to receive Judge Miller\u2019s ruling,\u201d said Laura Dumais, the PEER attorney representing Lundgren to the <em>Washington Post<\/em>, \u201cas we feel Dr. Jonathan Lundgren has a very strong case.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2015\/04\/usda-under-fire-for-rules-permitting-agribusiness-interests-like-monsanto-to-intimidate-scientists\/\">In April 2015<\/a>, PEER filed a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.peer.org\/assets\/docs\/usda\/3_26_15_USDA_%20Rule-Making_Petition.pdf\">petition for rulemaking with USDA<\/a>, urging the agency to strengthen its <a href=\"http:\/\/www.peer.org\/assets\/docs\/usda\/DOA_Final_SIP.pdf\">Scientific Integrity Policy<\/a> and adopt best practices used in other federal agencies in order to prevent politicized suppression or alteration of studies. The group claims that at least 10 USDA scientists have been investigated or have faced other consequences as a result of research questioning the safety of certain pesticides. The current policy disallows scientists from \u201cmaking statements that could be construed as being judgments of or recommendations on USDA or any other federal policy, either intentionally or inadvertently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe job of a government scientist is to conduct research to help guide policy,\u201d said PEER attorney Laura Dumais to the <em>Washington Post<\/em>, \u201cso prohibiting them from saying anything that could even be \u201d\u02dcconstrued\u2019 as commenting on policy essentially gives supervisors the right to punish anyone they want, for giving any interview at all. Dr. Jonathan Lundgren\u2019s case is a textbook example of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With science both in and outside of the U.S. pointing to a growing list of impacts from pesticides and genetically engineered (GE) crops, ranging from the decline of bees to the carcinogenicity of the widely used herbicide glyphosate, it is critical that federal scientific agency staff tasked with protecting human and environmental health are able to inform the public without repercussions.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/org2.salsalabs.com\/o\/7106\/p\/dia\/action3\/common\/public\/index.sjs?action_KEY=21956\">Help us defend independent science by signing this petition to USDA today<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Lundgren will join Beyond Pesticides for a presentation at the <a href=\"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2015\/12\/save-the-date-esteemed-researchers-to-join-lineup-of-speakers-at-34th-national-pesticide-forum-in-portland-maine\/\">34<sup>th<\/sup> National Pesticide Forum<\/a> in Portland, ME on April 15-16, 2016. The conference brings together top scientists, policy makers, and public health and environmental advocates to interact, engage in dialogue, and strategize on solutions that are protective of health and the environment. Aaron Blair, PhD, chair at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, another target of chemical industry pressure after a finding that <a href=\"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2015\/03\/glyphosate-classified-carcinogenic-by-international-cancer-agency-group-calls-on-u-s-to-end-herbicides-use-and-advance-alternatives\/\">glyphosate is carcinogenic based on laboratory animal studies<\/a>, will also speak at the Forum.<\/p>\n<p>Reserve your spot today to receive the Early Bird Discount rate ($5 off)! For more information and to purchase tickets, <a href=\"https:\/\/org2.salsalabs.com\/o\/7106\/p\/salsa\/event\/common\/public\/?event_KEY=80373\">see this webpage. <\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/federal-eye\/wp\/2015\/12\/23\/judge-green-lights-whistleblower-claim-against-usda-by-pesticide-researcher\/\">Washington Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Beyond Pesticides, January 5, 2016) An administrative court judge has agreed to hear a case filed by a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) pollinator researcher who says his \u00a0firing by the agency \u00a0was retaliation for his \u00a0cutting edge research \u00a0linking neonicotinoid insecticides to declinining monarch butterfly populations, which \u00a0has drawn \u00a0national attention and international recognition. Late last year, Judge Patricia M. Miller of the Merit Systems Protection Board denied USDA&#8217;s request to dismiss a claim filed \u00a0by Johnathan Lundgren, PhD, a USDA employee for eleven years with high accolades. In April of last year, Dr. Lundgren published a study in The Science of Nature (pdf) that shows that clothianidin, a neonicotinoid insecticide \u00a0often used to coat seeds, kills monarch butterfly larvae in the laboratory. On August 3, 2015, USDA imposed a 14-day suspension against Dr. Lundgren for submitting the study and for a paperwork error in his travel authorization for his invited presentation about his research to a panel of the National Academy of Sciences, as well as to a USDA stakeholder group, the Pennsylvania No-Till Alliance. The suspension was cut to 14 days from 30 after Dr. Lundgren filed an appeal. In October 2015, Dr. Lundgren, respresented by Public [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,21,62,9,328,93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announcements","category-chemicals","category-litigation","category-national-politics","category-neonicotinoids","category-pollinators"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Federal Judge Permits USDA Whistleblower Case to Proceed - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2016\/01\/federal-judge-permits-usda-whistleblower-case-to-proceed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Federal Judge Permits USDA Whistleblower Case to Proceed - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Beyond Pesticides, January 5, 2016) An administrative court judge has agreed to hear a case filed by a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) pollinator researcher who says his \u00a0firing by the agency \u00a0was retaliation for his \u00a0cutting edge research \u00a0linking neonicotinoid insecticides to declinining monarch butterfly populations, which \u00a0has drawn \u00a0national attention and international recognition. Late last year, Judge Patricia M. Miller of the Merit Systems Protection Board denied USDA&#8217;s request to dismiss a claim filed \u00a0by Johnathan Lundgren, PhD, a USDA employee for eleven years with high accolades. In April of last year, Dr. Lundgren published a study in The Science of Nature (pdf) that shows that clothianidin, a neonicotinoid insecticide \u00a0often used to coat seeds, kills monarch butterfly larvae in the laboratory. On August 3, 2015, USDA imposed a 14-day suspension against Dr. Lundgren for submitting the study and for a paperwork error in his travel authorization for his invited presentation about his research to a panel of the National Academy of Sciences, as well as to a USDA stakeholder group, the Pennsylvania No-Till Alliance. The suspension was cut to 14 days from 30 after Dr. Lundgren filed an appeal. 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Late last year, Judge Patricia M. Miller of the Merit Systems Protection Board denied USDA&#8217;s request to dismiss a claim filed \u00a0by Johnathan Lundgren, PhD, a USDA employee for eleven years with high accolades. In April of last year, Dr. Lundgren published a study in The Science of Nature (pdf) that shows that clothianidin, a neonicotinoid insecticide \u00a0often used to coat seeds, kills monarch butterfly larvae in the laboratory. On August 3, 2015, USDA imposed a 14-day suspension against Dr. Lundgren for submitting the study and for a paperwork error in his travel authorization for his invited presentation about his research to a panel of the National Academy of Sciences, as well as to a USDA stakeholder group, the Pennsylvania No-Till Alliance. The suspension was cut to 14 days from 30 after Dr. Lundgren filed an appeal. 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