Government must pay $1M in legal fees for FBI whistleblower
A federal judge ordered the government to pay just over $1 million in legal fees to the attorneys for a former FBI agent who sued the bureau for alleged retaliation after she filed a 1998 sex-discrimination complaint.
Chief U.S. District Judge James Rosenbaum turned aside the government's objections and on Thursday ordered the payment for Jane Turner of St. Paul, who won damages totally $360,000 in February after a jury ruled in her favor.
Turner and her lawyers originally requested about $1.46 million in fees and expenses. U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan recommended reducing that - which is common - by about $444,000 in November.
Rosenbaum issued a two-page order adopting Boylan's recommendations.
Turner, who retired in 2003, also had a separate dispute with the FBI after she accused colleagues of stealing a Tiffany crystal globe from the World Trade Center ruins.
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