Walpin Sues
Gerald Walpin, the fired AmeriCorps Inspector General, promises to be a thorn in the Obama administration's side for some time to come: he has sued for reinstatement, alleging that he was fired illegally by the administration.
I'm not an expert in the relevant fields of the law, but to a casual observer it does appear that Walpin's firing likely was illegal. The administration can deal with the suit in some combination of four ways: move for dismissal, move to stay the case, move for a confidentiality order that will prevent facts learned in discovery from becoming public, or buy Walpin off with a settlement. Based on my limited knowledge, it's hard to see grounds for either a dismissal or a stay, and it will be tough to run out the clock given that the Obama administration has 3 1/2 years left, at least. And Walpin may prove hard to buy off: he got into trouble with the administration (and with the AmeriCorps board) because he wanted to stand on principle rather than sweep a scandal under the rug for the sake of stimulus money, and his suit doesn't request money damages--only reinstatement. It will be interesting to see whether Obama decides the better part of valor lies in giving Walpin his old job back.
