---
kind: "section"
citation: "48 C.F.R. § 1803.903"
title: "48"
number: "1803.903"
heading: "Policy."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/48/1803.903"
---

# §1803.903. Policy.

- (a) **Policy.** [10 U.S.C. 4701](/usc/10/4701.md) prohibits contractors or subcontractors from discharging, demoting, or otherwise discriminating against an employee as a reprisal for disclosing, to any of the entities listed at [paragraph (b)](#b) of this section, information that the employee reasonably believes is evidence of gross mismanagement of a NASA contract, a gross waste of NASA funds, an abuse of authority relating to a NASA contract, a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety, or a violation of law, rule, or regulation related to a NASA contract (including the competition for or negotiation of a contract). Such reprisal is prohibited even if it is undertaken at the request of an executive branch official, unless the request takes the form of a non-discretionary directive and is within the authority of the executive branch official making the request.
- (b) Entities to whom disclosure may be made:
  - (1) **A Member of Congress or a representative of a committee of Congress.**
  - (2) The NASA Inspector General or any other Inspector General that has oversight over contracts awarded by or on behalf of NASA.
  - (3) **The Government Accountability Office.**
  - (4) **A NASA employee responsible for contract oversight or management.**
  - (5) **An authorized official of the Department of Justice or other law enforcement agency.**
  - (6) **A court or grand jury.**
  - (7) A management official or other employee of the contractor or subcontractor who has the responsibility to investigate, discover, or address misconduct.
- (c) **Disclosure clarified.** An employee who initiates or provides evidence of contractor or subcontractor misconduct in any judicial or administrative proceeding relating to waste, fraud, or abuse on a NASA contract shall be deemed to have made a disclosure.
- (d) **Contracting officer actions.** A contracting officer who receives a complaint of reprisal of the type described in [paragraph (a)](#a) of this section shall forward it to legal counsel and to the NASA Inspector General.

## Notes

### Amendments

[79 FR 43959, July 29, 2014, as amended at 88 FR 47807, July 25, 2023]

### Source

Source: 79 FR 43959, July 29, 2014, unless otherwise noted.

### Authority

Authority: 51 U.S.C. 20113(a) and 48 CFR chapter 1.

### Source

Source: 61 FR 40537, Aug. 5, 1996, unless otherwise noted.

### Amendments

[79 FR 43959, July 29, 2014, as amended at 88 FR 47807, July 25, 2023]