Man Says JPL Fired Him for Exposing Fraud
A technical analyst fired last week from Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is suing to get his job back, alleging he was laid off in retaliation for blowing the whistle on cost overruns and mismanagement in a $175-million program that administers NASA research.
Vasudeva Rajagopalan of Valencia also is seeking back pay and unspecified punitive damages in the suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court against JPL and two of its supervisors, Jay D. Schmuecker and Albert G. Brejcha.
A JPL spokesman declined to comment on specifics of the suit. “The complaint . . . is now being reviewed,” said George Alexander, JPL’s manager of public affairs, adding that “JPL’s policy is to treat all its employees fairly . . . we do not tolerate discrimination or retaliation.”
In a Friday press conference at his attorney’s office, Rajagopalan said JPL hired him in 1988 to assess its management and administrative support program (MASS), then systematically “hounded and harassed” him for turning in critical reports.
The suit alleges that “the MASS program at JPL has been a conspiracy to defraud the taxpayer,” and that JPL has lied to the federal government about it.
“I went to supervisors and repeatedly raised concerns . . . but they felt I was a threat to JPL’s way of doing things,” Rajagopalan said. “The old-boy network is very well established and this is being done to protect highly placed individuals.”
JPL has been hit with several labor-related lawsuits in recent years. In 1989, another employee alleged that he was fired after uncovering falsified information in a JPL report that would have gone to the federal government, NASA and aerospace firms.
Rajagopalan, an accountant with an MBA from USC, said JPL was required by the federal government to hire outside analysts to scrutinize programs such as MASS. The lawsuit alleges that JPL supervisors pressured Rajagopalan to water down or suppress his findings of “systematic waste and mismanagement.”
Rajagopalan’s 1989 evaluation said he “served as the voice of conscience in spite of constant harassment and threats” and “displayed remarkable foresight in pointing out the deficiencies and pitfalls” of programs he assessed. His 1990 evaluation also praised him.
But a second 1990 evaluation chided Rajagopalan for “substantial criticism of project management” and urged him to take a class on “how to communicate more effectively with people.”
He was laid off Aug. 26. JPL cited “economic reasons,” according to the suit, which was filed four days later.
