When the public affairs director of Arlington National Cemetery took over her job three months ago, she discovered that cemetery officials were imposing new limits on media coverage of funerals of the Iraq war dead.  According to the director, the cemetery began placing reporters 50 yards away from the funeral service, obstructing photographs and making the service inaudible.  She complained and ended up being fired. 

The cemetery denied that there were any new rules, although some in the media said that, with a family’s permission, cemetery officials had earlier allowed reporters to be close enough to the service to hear prayers and eulogies and film the handing of the folded flag to the next of kin.  The director kept pushing her complaint, also asserting that cemetery officials were pressuring families not to allow media coverage of funeral services. 

After there was publicity about the director’s complaint, Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked his staff to inquire about the matter.  According to the director, she then began to get “some rough treatment.”  She was told not to leave the premises without permission, not to work overtime without permission, to remove a Marines poster from her cubicle, and to change her title from public affairs director to public affairs officer.  Her blackberry was disconnected.  She was finally fired.

The director claims she was fired in retaliation for complaining.  Her superior says she was fired for insubordination.  She had “been disrespectful” to her superior and “failed to act in an appropriate manner.”  The Army Secretary has ordered an internal investigation of the firing.

The director is calling herself a whistleblower, but at this point, it doesn’t seem that any laws were violated by her employer.  There was definitely a difference of opinon between the director and her superior.  She bucked him.  That’s insubordination.  Firing her for that may not look good, but there’s nothing unlawful about it. 

An employee doesn’t make the rules.  She doesn’t have to like them.  She doesn’t even have to abide by them.  If she doesn’t, she can be fired.