Willig, Williams & Davidson’s Ryan Allen Hancock Helps Dwayne Bensing Reach a Settlement with the U.S. Department of Education in Whistleblower Case Involving Transgender Athletes

PHILADELPHIA (October 2021) – Dwayne Bensing, Esq., former Office for Civil Rights attorney, represented by Willig, Williams & Davidson employment law attorney Ryan Allen Hancock, has settled a whistleblower complaint against the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) after facing retaliation for pushing back on the department’s treatment of transgender students under former President Donald Trump.

According to Outsports.com, “Betsy DeVos’s Department of Education chose to fast-track a Title IX complaint against the state of Connecticut’s policy allowing transgender athletes to compete according to their gender identities.”

“My client saw something he believed to be unlawful, exercised his right to speak up and lost his job. I am proud to represent such a brave individual,” said Hancock.

Bensing claimed the government violated the Whistleblower Protection Act in disciplining him for his disclosure. In an interview with HuffPost, he said, “They care more about harming students than they do about protecting their career civil servants. It was just more than abnormal; it was against everything we [did at the Department of Education].”

Hancock said, “The Whistleblower Protection Act gives employees authority to disclose government information if they believe they are witnessing a violation of rules, laws or regulations, gross mismanagement or an abuse of power.”

Bensing said, “I look back at my government service career with pride. This mutually agreeable settlement closes a dark chapter not only for me personally, but also for the students to whom I’ve dedicated my career trying to protect from unlawful discrimination.”

Following his separation from employment with the Department of Education, Bensing was hired as a staff attorney at the ACLU of Delaware.

About Willig, Williams & Davidson – Willig, Williams & Davidson (https://www.wwdlaw.com) is one of the largest and most respected union-side labor law firms in the United States. The firm has offices in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Jenkintown Pa., as well as Haddonfield, N.J., and Chicago, Ill. Founded in 1979, Willig, Williams & Davidson focuses on representing labor unions, employee benefits funds and individual working people and their families on a variety of legal fronts, including national, regional and local contract negotiations; election and campaign finance; dispute resolution through mediation, arbitration and litigation; family law matters; benefits law design and compliance issues; discrimination, overtime and unpaid wages, and other employment matters; prepaid legal services for union members; social security disability; and workers’ compensation matters in Philadelphia and beyond. Workers inspire us.