Whistleblower’s Appellate Bid for IRS Reward Gets Amicus Backing

The US Tax Court prematurely granted summary judgment against a pro se whistleblower without first obtaining all the relevant information from the IRS related to the agency’s denial of her request for a reward, the Georgetown University Law Center told the DC Circuit.

Not only was the IRS’s explanation for the denial of Mary Trongone’s award baseless, but the Tax Court “abused its discretion when it denied Ms. Trongone’s pro se motions to compel discovery and supplement the record on overly formalistic grounds,” the center’s appellate litigation program said in an amicus brief.

“And it legally erred when it ultimately ...