Last week, the National Whistleblowers Center filed a motion for preliminary injunction under the Freedom of Information Act in U.S. District Court in DC. The motion has been filed in order to get the FDA to release all documents pertaining to their illegal surveillance of employees’ private email correspondence. NWC has a limited number of documents that show the FDA conducted special targeted monitoring of employees who blew the whistle on misconduct and inappropriate approvals of unsafe medical devices. The FDA activated spyware on whistleblowers’ work computers to spy on their password protected Gmail-to-Gmail correspondences to Congress, the Office of Special Counsel and other oversight authorities.
According to Lindsey Williams, Director of Advocacy and Development for the National Whistleblowers centre, “It is critical that the FDA immediately release the documents related to their illegal spying program. The program has created a chilling effect throughout the federal government. Federal employees must feel free to report their concerns to Congress and OSC.”
As per preliminary injunction rules, the judge must hold a hearing within the next 20 days and rule shortly there after.
*Abisola Ojikutu (a NWC intern) drafted this posting