Opinion ID: 787764
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Newspaper Disclosures

Text: 55 Coons gave interviews to both the San Jose Mercury News and the New York Times about his first whistleblowing complaint, and the pressure to file favorable treatment to certain taxpayers. The Merit Systems Protection Board found that Coons's interviews with the newspapers were not protected. The Board found that the interviews appeared to violate 26 U.S.C. § 6103 (governing confidentiality of taxpayer information), and that Coons did not meet his burden under 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(8) of providing that these disclosures were not specifically prohibited by law. The Board found that although the taxpayers' names were not disclosed, they could be identified from published reports. This finding was supported by substantial evidence. 26 U.S.C. § 6103(b)(2)(A). 5 Furthermore, these disclosures do not support Coons's whistleblower claim because the newspaper interviews post-dated the IRS's decision to demote Coons. See Willis v. Dep't of Agric., 141 F.3d 1139, 1143 (Fed.Cir.1998). Therefore, they are not protected disclosures under the Whistleblower Protection Act.