Linda Tripp files lawsuit against US government
Linda Tripp has filed a lawsuit against the US government, alleging the Pentagon illegally told a newspaper she was being interviewed for a job in the Defence Department.
Tripp, whose secret tape recordings led to Bill Clinton's impeachment, was fired from her political position on Inauguration Day in the changeover of administrations.
She has allegedly been in Germany for a job interview at the George Marshall Center.
In the suit she is reported to claim the January 23 European edition of Stars and Stripes carried a front-page headline and story disclosing that she was one of four candidates for the Defence Department post at lower pay.
Her lawsuit, filed in the US District Court, alleges that the Defence Department engaged in "violations of the Privacy Act" by releasing the data.
And Tripp said she "was humiliated by the worldwide publication of the fact that she was looking for a job below her grade level and which could result in a substantial pay cut."
The story quoted the Marshall Center's director, Robert Kennedy, as saying Tripp and others were being considered for the job of deputy director with a salary of between $67,765 (£46,507) and $88,096 (£60,434).
Tripp earned nearly $100,000 (£68,598) a year as a public affairs specialist at the Defence Department's Defence Manpower Data Center in Arlington, Virginia.
Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral Craig Quigley would not comment on Tripp's lawsuit.
