LOUISIANA BOARD OF ETHICS FILES CHARGES AGAINST NEW IBERIA CHIMP LAB FOR RETALIATING AGAINST WHISTLEBLOWER
In Defense of Animals Blasts Feds’ Inaction

Baton Rouge, LA (December 7, 2005) – The Louisiana Board of Ethics has filed charges against the New Iberia Research Center (NIRC) after finding that the primate lab – which houses over 6,000 chimpanzees and monkeys – illegally retaliated against a whistleblower, In Defense of Animals announced today.

The Board postponed a public hearing it had scheduled for December 8, and has not yet set a new date.

Whistleblower Narriman Fakier filed a sworn complaint with the Ethics Board last February asserting that NIRC illegally terminated her for reporting violations of federal animal welfare laws, employee safety and potential criminal animal cruelty. She also filed a detailed civil lawsuit, and is currently represented by Edmond L. Guidry, III (see)  

The Board enforces Louisiana’s Code of Governmental Ethics, which prohibits reprisal against public employees for reporting violations of the law. After conducting an investigation, the Board found that NIRC had illegally retaliated against Ms. Fakier, and formally notified the lab of the charges (see ; Ethics Board Docket number 2005-084)

“We applaud the Ethics Board for making New Iberia accountable for its egregious malfeasance,” said IDA president Elliot M. Katz, DVM. “It is especially noteworthy that the Ethics Board’s pursuit of justice has marched on despite the overwhelming devastation of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.”

In contrast to the Ethics Board’s timely handling of Ms. Fakier’s complaint in the face of overwhelming obstacles, Katz noted that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is supposed to enforce the federal Animal Welfare Act, has for almost two years sat on much of the same information acted on by the Ethics Board. The AWA also prohibits retaliation against whistleblowers in research labs, but the USDA has never prosecuted a single retaliation case. The NIH has similarly failed to take any action.

“It took a small agency in a beleaguered state just ten months to conduct an investigation and schedule a public hearing, while federal agencies with billion-dollar budgets have done nothing,” continued Katz. “And unlike the USDA, which permits labs to settle cases without admitting guilt, the Board of Ethics will not settle any case unless the entity charged admits guilt.” Katz noted that over the past 20 years, research labs have repeatedly paid tens of thousands of dollars to the USDA in toothless settlements of charges so that the labs could avoid public hearings of evidence of grave animal welfare violations. 

“Now, for the first time in almost 20 years, the evidence of a lab’s malfeasance will eventually be heard in open court for all the world to see,” concluded Katz. “The Ethics Board’s dogged upholding of the law will shine much-needed light not only on NIRC’s malfeasance, but also that of the USDA and the NIH.”