Los Alamos National Laboratory: zero. Whistleblower: $1 million.
That's the score after the University of California agreed Wednesday to pay former lab investigator Glenn Walp nearly $1 million for being wrongfully fired last year. The school manages Los Alamos on behalf of the U.S. Energy Department.
But the out-of-court settlement was more than a personal victory for Walp, a former Arizona state police chief hired to look into allegations of fraud, corruption and lax security at the world's most important nuclear facility. Government watchdogs say the settlement could encourage other potential whistleblowers to step forward and speak their minds.
"For a whistleblower case with a contract with the government, it's an incredibly large settlement," said Louis Clark, executive director of the Government Accountability Project. "And it sets a very good precedent, too."
My Wired News story has more.
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