Chris Wirts v. Heather Wilson, Secretary of the U.S. Air Force

The U.S. Air Force employed Mr. Wirts for over 30 years in a civilian capacity. By then end of his career Mr. Wirts had reached the rank of GG-15 and served in a high level position with the Air Force’s Joint Personnel Recovery Agency (JPRA). In late 2016 the JPRA’s military commander ordered Mr. Wirts to conduct an investigation into female civilian JPRA employees. Mr. Wirts objected to the commander’s order, claiming that it was gender discrimination. Mr. Wirts then offered to assist those subjected to the investigation in filing EEO charges. The JPRA commander then embarked on a course of retaliatory and discriminatory conduct that improperly eliminated Mr. Wirts’ GG 15 position and, in turn, ultimately gave Mr. Wirts no choice but to resign. A copy of Mr. Wirts’ Privacy Act, Title VII Religious Discrimination, and Title VII Retaliation complaint is available here.

The Air Force subsequently settled the case for $75,000.00.