An inside look at a legal fight between Triangle man, Trump Administration over firing

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- In an interview seen only on ABC11, an inside look at a high-profile legal fight between the Trump Administration and a Triangle man.

Hampton Dellinger was appointed to protect whistleblowers in the federal government, people exposing waste, fraud, abuse and dangers to the public.

"We work with whistleblowers in the federal government," Dellinger said. "So, if they see wrongdoing in their agency, they can come to us and we're outside their agency and we can initiate an investigation. And then if they're retaliated against for blowing the whistle, we can make sure they're protected."

Dellinger was fired last month by the Trump Administration one year into a five-year term after being appointed by former President Joe Biden.

"The law says that if I'm on the job and doing the best I can, doing a good job, the president has to have a really good reason to fire the person in my position," Dellinger said. "And the president didn't give any reason at all. Just wanted to put it in his own person. And my job's been on the books for 50 years, almost a half a century. And it's always had these meaningful protections that it's not about a president putting in whoever they want, because whistleblowers trust us to be independent and to be a safe place that they can come to."

During the weekend, a federal judge ruled his firing was illegal. After court rulings in his favor, Dellinger remains on the job in Washington, and he's now focused on helping probationary federal workers who've been fired by the Trump administration.

"In the federal government even if you're a new employee, a probationary employee, you have to be assessed based on your individual performance, OK?" And that's just a rule," Dellinger said. "That's, and that's a law that you don't have a lot of rights as a new employee, but you do have the right to be kept on the job or not based on how you do. And these firings had nothing to do with individual performance. They were across the board."

Dellinger lives in the Triangle and commutes to Washington for work every week.

He stopped by the ABC11 studio on Monday afternoon to discuss his case and how he's now working to help probationary federal workers who've been fired by the Trump Administration.

"My office is tasked by Congress with protecting federal employees and the merit system just as a whole," said Dellinger, of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. "And so, for the probationary employees, if they're not getting an individual assessment before they're fired, my office has the right under the law to ask that it be looked into and that they be treated as individuals and not just be subject to a mass firing."

The Trump Administration is appealing the ruling declaring its firing of Dellinger illegal.

Dellinger said he expects it to end up quickly at the US Supreme Court.

He added that he isn't necessarily opposed to organizational changes but wants proper procedures to be followed.

"I completely respect whatever decision Congress and the president come up with in terms of the budget," he said. "And I recognize that presidents can have the ability to reorganize the government in different ways. It just has to be done according to the law."