The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) still suffers from mismanagement and a negative workplace culture, three employees testified in a Congressional committee Wednesday, saying that unqualified and punitive administrators’ practices put travelers’ security at risk.

“The refusal to address or to hold senior leaders accountable is paralyzing this agency,” TSA program manager Mark Livingston told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, according to The Washington Post.

“No one who reports issues is safe at TSA,” Mr. Livingston added, saying that employees are less likely to tell supervisors about security problems out of fear of retaliation – a chain of intimidation that runs through the agency.

Livingston testified that he was turned away and disciplined for reporting issues to his superiors.

“They reduced me two pay grades,” he said. “This action was intended to publicly humiliate me. They sought to make an example of me.” In February, Livingston filed a lawsuit against the TSA claiming “retaliation and discrimination” by the agency.

Jay Brainard, the TSA’s federal security director in Kansas, also testified that unqualified higher-ups’ behavior adversely affected TSA activity.

Read More: CS Monitor

Featured Image – DVIDS