In February, Balaran found evidence that Interior retaliated against Mona Infield , a computer specialist in the BIA s national records center who cooperated with lawyers on the case. BIA handles roughly 300,000 trust accounts and is responsible for sending checks to Indian trust beneficiaries.
Beneficiaries rely on trust funds for basic living necessities.
Allegations of mismanagement of the BIA trust accounting system have plagued the agency for years. Interior issued a memorandum Feb. 16 that directed staff to comply with the order and informed employees that they wouldn t be retaliated against for speaking with the special master s office. But lawyers for the Native Americans do not think the agency s action went far enough. While defendants and their counsel represented that an appropriate memorandum had been distributed to all employees, such representations were false, said the motion filed by the Native Americans lawyers. According to the motion, Balaran surveyed 15 randomly chosen field offices on March 2 to check if his order had been issued.