against inspectors general) or its successor in func-
tion (as identified by the President); and 
(3) the terms ‘‘wrongdoing’’ and ‘‘Inspector 
General’’ have the same respective meanings as 
under the Executive order cited in paragraph (2). 
(b) AUTHORITY OF INTEGRITY COMMITTEE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—An allegation of wrongdoing 
against the Special Counsel (or the Deputy Special 
Counsel) may be received, reviewed, and referred for 
investigation by the Integrity Committee to the same 
extent and in the same manner as in the case of an 
allegation against an Inspector General (or a mem-
ber of the staff of an Office of Inspector General), 
subject to the requirement that the Special Counsel 
recuse himself or herself from the consideration of 
any allegation brought under this subsection. 
(2) COORDINATION WITH EXISTING PROVISIONS 
OF LAW.—This section does not eliminate access to 
the Merit Systems Protection Board for review 
under section 7701 of title 5, United States Code. 
To the extent that an allegation brought under this 
subsection involves section 2302(b)(8) of such title, 
a failure to obtain corrective action within 120 days 
after the date on which that allegation is received by 
the Integrity Committee shall, for purposes of sec-
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tion 1221 of such title, be considered to satisfy sec-
tion 1214(a)(3)(B) of such title. 
(c) REGULATIONS.—The Integrity Committee may 
prescribe any rules or regulations necessary to carry out 
this section, subject to such consultation or other require-
ments as might otherwise apply. 
SEC. 4. DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF SEXUAL ORI-
ENTATION PROHIBITED. 
(a) REPUDIATION.—In order to dispel any public con-
fusion, Congress repudiates any assertion that Federal 
employees are not protected from discrimination on the 
basis of sexual orientation. 
(b) AFFIRMATION.—It is the sense of Congress that, 
in the absence of the amendment made by subsection (c), 
discrimination against Federal employees and applicants 
for Federal employment on the basis of sexual orientation 
is prohibited by section 2302(b)(10) of title 5, United 
States Code. 
(c) DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTA-
TION PROHIBITED.—Section 2302(b)(1) of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 
the end; 
(2) in subparagraph (E), by inserting ‘‘or’’ at 
the end; and 
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(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(F) on the basis of sexual orientation;’’. 
SEC. 5. PROCEDURES OF THE MERIT SYSTEMS PROTEC-
TION BOARD. 
(a) PROOF OF EXHAUSTION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHT 
OF ACTION.—Section 1221(a) of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)(1)’’; 
and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), an employee, 
former employee, or applicant for employment may dem-
onstrate compliance with section 1214(a)(3)(B) by— 
‘‘(A) submitting a copy of the complaint or 
other pleading pursuant to which such employee, 
former employee, or applicant sought corrective ac-
tion from the Special Counsel with respect to the 
personnel action involved; and 
‘‘(B) certifying that the Special Counsel did not 
provide notice of intent to seek such corrective ac-
tion to such employee, former employee, or applicant 
within the 120-day period described in such section 
1214(a)(3)(B).’’. 
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(b) INDIVIDUAL REQUESTS
FOR STAYS.—Section 
1221(c) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(2) Any stay requested under paragraph (1) shall 
be granted within 10 calendar days (excluding Saturdays, 
Sundays, and legal holidays) after the date the request 
is made, if the Board determines that the employee, 
former employee, or applicant has demonstrated that pro-
tected activity described under section 2302(b)(8) was a 
contributing factor to the personnel action involved. If the 
stay request is denied, the employee, former employee, or 
applicant may submit an interlocutory appeal for expe-
dited review by the Board.’’. 
(c) JOINING SUBSEQUENT AND RELATED CLAIMS 
WITH PENDING LITIGATION.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 1221 of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(A) by redesignating subsections (h), (i), 
and (j) as subsections (i), (j), and (k), respec-
tively; and 
(B) inserting after subsection (g) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(h) During a pending proceeding, subsequent per-
sonnel actions may be joined if the employee, former em-
ployee, or applicant for employment demonstrates that re-
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taliation for protected activity at issue in the pending pro-
ceeding was a contributing factor to subsequent alleged 
prohibited personnel practices.’’. 
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1222 
of title 5, United States Code, is amended by strik-
ing 
‘‘section 
1221(i)’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘section 
1221(j)’’. 
(d) 
PROCEDURAL
DUE
PROCESS.—Section 
1204(b)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting ‘‘in accordance with regulations consistent with 
the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, so far as prac-
ticable’’ before the period. 
(e) ATTORNEY FEES.—Section 7701(g)(1) of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘if the em-
ployee or applicant is the prevailing party and’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘if the claim or claims raised by the employee or appli-
cant were not frivolous, unreasonable, or groundless; the 
case was a substantial or significant factor in the agency’s 
action providing some relief or benefit to the employee or 
applicant; and’’. 
SEC. 6. PROCEDURES OF THE OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUN-
SEL. 
(a) INVESTIGATIONS OF ALLEGED PROHIBITED PER-
SONNEL PRACTICES.—Section 1212(e) of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘may prescribe such 
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with certifications from heads of agencies under 
such subsection; and 
‘‘(4) reports from heads of agencies under sec-
tion 1213(g)(1). 
‘‘(b) The Special Counsel shall take steps to ensure 
that any list or report made available to the public or 
placed on the website of the Office of Special Counsel 
under this section does not contain any information the 
disclosure of which is prohibited by law or by Executive 
order requiring that information be kept secret in the in-
terest of national defense or the conduct of foreign af-
fairs.’’. 
SEC. 7. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD.—Each 
annual report submitted by the Merit Systems Protection 
Board under section 1206 of title 5, United States Code, 
shall, with respect to the period covered by such report, 
include— 
(1) the number of cases and alleged violations 
of section 2302 of such title 5 filed with the Board 
for each agency, itemized for each prohibited per-
sonnel practice; 
(2) the number of cases and alleged violations 
of section 2302 of such title 5 that the Board deter-
mines for each agency, itemized for each prohibited 
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personnel practice and compared to the total number 
of cases and allegations filed with the Board for 
each, both with respect to the initial decisions by ad-
ministrative judges and final Board decisions; 
(3) the number of cases and allegations in 
which corrective action was provided, compared to 
the total number of cases and allegations filed with 
the Board for each, itemized separately for settle-
ments and final Board decisions; and 
(4) with respect to paragraphs (8) and (9) of 
section 2302 (b) of such title 5, the number of cases 
in which the Board has ruled in favor of the em-
ployee on the merits of the claim compared to the 
total number of cases and allegations filed with the 
Board for each, where findings of fact and conclu-
sions of law were issued on whether those provisions 
were violated, independent from cases disposed by 
procedural determinations, including a separate 
itemization of both initial decisions by administrative 
judges and final Board decisions for each category. 
(b) OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL.—Each annual re-
port submitted under section 1218 of title 5, United 
States Code, by the Special Counsel or an employee des-
ignated by the Special Counsel shall, with respect to the 
period covered by such report, include— 
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(1) the number of cases and allegations for 
each prohibited personnel practice, delineated by 
type of prohibited personnel practice; 
(2) for each type of prohibited personnel prac-
tice, the number of cases and allegations as to which 
the Office of Special Counsel found reasonable 
grounds to believe section 2302 of such title 5 had 
been violated; 
(3) for each type of prohibited personnel prac-
tice, the number of cases and allegations as to which 
the Office of Special Counsel referred the complaint 
for full field investigation; 
(4) for each prohibited personnel practice, the 
number of cases and allegations as to which the Of-
fice of Special Counsel recommended corrective ac-
tion; 
(5) for each prohibited personnel practice, the 
number of cases and allegations as to which the Of-
fice of Special Counsel conducted a mediation or 
other form of alternative dispute resolution, with 
statistics and illustrative examples describing the re-
sults with particularity; 
(6) the number of instances in which the Office 
of Special Counsel referred disclosures submitted 
under section 1213 of such title 5 to an agency 
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head, without any finding under subsection (c) or 
(g) of such section; 
(7) a statistical tabulation of results for each 
customer satisfaction survey question, both with re-
spect to allegations of prohibited personnel practice 
submitted under section 1214 of such title 5 and 
disclosures submitted under section 1213 of such 
title; and 
(8) for each provision under section 1216(a) (1) 
through (5) and (c) of such title 5, the number of 
cases and allegations, the number of field investiga-
tions opened, the number of instances in which cor-
rective action was sought, and the number of in-
stances in which corrective action was obtained. 
(c) ANNUAL SURVEY.—Section 13(a) of the Act enti-
tled ‘‘An Act to reauthorize the Office of Special Counsel, 
and for other purposes’’, approved October 29, 1994 (5 
U.S.C. 1212 note; Public Law 103–424) is amended in 
the first sentence by inserting ‘‘, including individuals who 
disclose information to the Office of Special Counsel under 
section 1213’’ before the period. 
Æ 
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