DOT’s Retaliation Victory Upheld Over Safety Inspection Worker

A former Federal Aviation Administration employee failed to revive a suit alleging his proposed removal was retaliation for complaining about discrimination, not for improper workplace recordings he made.

The ruling Tuesday by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit agreed with a lower court that the safety inspection worker lacked evidence that the Transportation Department’s explanation for its actions was pretextual. According to the DOT, an investigation confirmed the worker made unauthorized recordings of various work-related meetings, connected an unauthorized device to his government-issued work computer, and lacked candor during its probe.

Jean-Claude Tassy’s argument that one of ...