Scott Bloch (born c. 1959) is an American attorney and former political appointee of President George W. Bush. Bloch served as United States Special Counsel from December 12, 2003, when Bush signed his appointment, filling out his five-year statutory term on December 11, 2008.
Biography
Bloch was born in New York City and grew up in Los Angeles, where his father, who used the name Walter Black, was a writer for a number of popular television shows. His grandfather was the painter, Albert Bloch.
Scott Bloch worked as an associate and then partner for Stevens & Brand, LLP of Lawrence, Kansas between 1989 and 2001. Beginning in 2001, Bloch worked as a political appointee in the Bush administration, first as deputy director to the Department of Justice's Task Force for Faith-based and Community Initiatives between 2001 and 2003, and then as Special Counsel, directing the Office of Special Counsel, which has jurisdiction to protect whistleblowers and enforce the Hatch Act (which restricts political activities of government employees). Bloch is a grandson of American modernist artist Albert Bloch, about whom he filmed a documentary in 2002. Bloch also served on the Founders' Committee of Wyoming Catholic College from 2002 to 2005, and is a member of the Knights of Malta and a local society of admirers of Hilaire Belloc.
Career
Bloch achieved a great deal of oversight while in the United States Office of Special Counsel, which was widely reported on during his five-year tenure, including aviation near miss cover ups and airworthiness safety check cover ups that caused the grounding of 1000 planes.
Bloch reversed a policy decision by his predecessor, on issues of sexual orientation, to make "sexual orientation" a protected category for discrimination cases in the federal government, contrary to controlling case law and statutory interpretation of the office of 20 years prior to her tenure.
Bloch's first major action as head of the Office of Special Counsel, was to choose as deputy a lawyer who had publicly taken a position against the "homosexual agenda", and to hire young lawyers from the conservative Ave Maria School of Law. Part of the job of the OSC is to protect whistleblowers.
In February 2004, Bloch ordered all mention of sexual orientation workplace nondiscrimination be removed from OSC's website and printed materials, stating that his office lacked the authority to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Bloch's critics argued that gay employees were protected by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, which prohibits discrimination against federal employees "on the basis of conduct which does not adversely affect the performance of the employee."
After complaints from Congress, the Bush Administration released a statement in April 2004 saying homosexual employees were still protected. Bloch also issued a statement saying: "It is the policy of this administration that discrimination in the federal workforce on the basis of sexual orientation is prohibited."
This did not satisfy gay rights organizations, which claimed a lack of enforcement of the policy. By October 2004, the OSC still had not restored the language on its website or printed materials. The Federal GLOBE (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Employees of the Federal Government) then called for Bloch's resignation.
Bloch later retracted his statements and stated his office did not have the legal authority to protect employees from workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.