Date
June 9, 2006
Contact
Eric Kleiman, IDA
717-939-3231
In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner Blvd
San Rafael
CA 94901
IDA is an international, California-based animal advocacy organization dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals by defending their rights, welfare and habitats.
IDA Calls on Governor Blanco to Veto Legislation that Muzzles Whistleblower, Guts Louisiana Code of Ethics
Bill Aids and Abets Chimpanzee Lab’s Cover-Up of Its Illegal Retaliation and Animal Cruelty, Animal Protection Group Charges
Baton Rouge, LA—The Louisiana Legislature has passed a bill aimed solely at derailing formal Ethics Charges filed against the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s New Iberia Research Center (ULL-NIRC) for illegally retaliating against a whistleblower, In Defense of Animals (IDA) wrote in a letter today that urged Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco to veto the “egregious” legislation.
In September 2005, after conducting an independent investigation, the Louisiana Board of Ethics filed historic formal Ethics Charges against ULL-NIRC, which experiments on over 400 chimpanzees and 6,000 monkeys, for illegally retaliating against Narriman Fakier for speaking out against animal welfare and employee safety violations. Such retaliation violates the Louisiana Code of Governmental Ethics.
ULL-NIRC and its attorneys repeatedly attempted to get the Board to dismiss the charges and prevent a public hearing of the evidence from the Board’s investigation, including what IDA has described as “character assassination” of one of the Board members, a retired judge. After these attempts failed, New Orleans Rep. Emile Bruneau introduced House Bill 311 on March 14. H.B. 311 prevents the Board of Ethics from pursuing any retaliation complaints if there is a pending civil lawsuit or complaint before a federal body such as the USDA, which is currently conducting an official investigation into Ms. Fakier’s retaliation allegations.
The bill forever stops the Board’s investigation of Ms. Fakier’s case in its tracks, and is incontrovertibly retroactive. It only affects the way the Board handles retaliation complaints – and the formal Ethics charges against ULL-NIRC are the only reprisal charges currently pending before the Board. The legislation also prevents the Board from ever holding a public hearing to reveal the evidence from its independent investigation; instead, the Board must defer to the outcome of the civil lawsuit or the USDA investigation.
“It is utterly shameful that the Louisiana legislature would be party to ULL-NIRC’s brazen scheme to silence a whistleblower and forever cover up its egregious cruelty and abuse of chimpanzees and monkeys,” wrote IDA president Elliot M. Katz, DVM in his letter to Governor Blanco. “It is clear that this legislation is aimed solely at derailing the Ethics Board's formal ethics charges against ULL-NIRC as well as aiding and abetting the Center's all-out and underhanded attempt to prevent a public airing of its wrongdoing.”
Katz noted that ULL-NIRC had previously claimed that it would “hotly contest” the Ethics Board charges. “Instead of proclaiming its innocence and demanding its day in court as it had pledged, this lab has used every trick in the book to prevent the public from ever seeing the Board’s evidence of ULL-NIRC’s malfeasance.” The final result, wrote Katz, was the legislature’s “gutting” of the Code of Ethics.
“The legislature's action makes a mockery of the concept of ethics in Louisiana and has far-reaching and devastating ramifications for other whistleblowers in the future,” concluded Katz. “We urge citizens everywhere who are concerned about justice for animals and protection of whistleblowers to contact Governor Kathleen Blanco and urge her to veto this abominable bill.”