Worker Blames Transfer On His Whistle-Blowing Reports Not Connected With Move, Blm Says

The Bureau of Land Management has transferred a local employee who accused his boss of violating professional ethics.

Mike Austin said he thought he was doing the right thing when he reported his boss for what appeared to be a conflict of interest and said he thought the transfer was a reprisal.

Austin, a realty specialist with the Bureau of Land Management’s Twin Falls office for the past six years, reported for work at the BLM Boise office last week.

In March, Austin reported his concerns about the conduct of Jarbidge Resource Area Manager Ray Hoem, who purchased a grain silo from a farm operation that owed money on a trespass fine.

Hoem did not deny buying the silo, but said he did not complete the sale until after a renegotiated agreement to pay off the fine was signed.

In late June, the BLM notified Austin that he was being transferred to Boise and that his expertise was needed there more than in the Jarbidge Resource Area.

Austin said the reassignment was a reprisal for blowing the whistle on Hoem’s activities and said he felt like he was being harassed at work for his report on Hoem.

Frank S. Frymire, a personnel officer with the BLM Boise office, said there is no connection between Austin reporting his boss and being transferred.