TSA Wins Ruling over Air Marshal's Text Leak

National News

The Transportation Safety Agency did not violate an air marshal's due process rights when it disciplined him for leaking a text message to the media, the 9th Circuit ruled.

Robert McLean received a text message in late July 2003 stating that there would be no air marshals on overnight flights through Aug. 9.

McLean's concern over safety issues led him to spread the news to the media. The Federal Air Marshal Service later determined that the text message did not reflect a final decision, and no overnight missions were cancelled.

McLean was fired for the incident more than two years later. The TSA issued an order ruling that McLean had divulged "sensitive security information."

In a per curiam decision, the circuit judges ruled that the TSA had every right to make such an order. McLean's rights under the Whistleblower Protection Act were not violated because the TSA's order was not a personnel decision.

"The fact that the order has some impact on McLean's proceedings does not convert it to a 'personnel action,'" the judges wrote.  

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Does a car or truck accident count as a work injury?

If an employee is injured in a car crash while on the job, they are eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits. “On the job” injuries are not limited to accidents and injuries that happen inside the workplace, they may also include injuries suffered away from an employee’s place of work while performing a job-related task, such as making a delivery or traveling to a client meeting.

Regular commutes to and from work don’t usually count. If you get into an accident on your way in on a regular workday, it’s probably not considered a work injury for the purposes of workers’ compensation.

If you drive around as part of your job, an injury on the road or loading/unloading accident is likely a work injury. If you don’t typically drive around for work but are required to drive for the benefit of your employer, that would be a work injury in many cases. If you are out of town for work, pretty much any driving would count as work related. For traveling employees, any accidents or injuries that happen on a work trip, even while not technically working, can be considered a work injury. The reason is because you wouldn’t be in that town in the first place, had you not been on a work trip.

Workers’ compensation claims for truck drivers, traveling employees and work-related injuries that occur away from the job site can be challenging and complex. At Krol, Bongiorno & Given, we understand that many families depend on the income of an injured worker, and we are proud of our record protecting the injured and disabled. We have handled well over 30,000 claims for injured workers throughout the state of Illinois.

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