Sherry Chen[1] (Chinese: 陈霞芬[2]) is an American hydrologist who worked in the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Wilmington, Ohio.
In October 2016, Chen filed a case of wrongful employment termination to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).
After graduation, she worked for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for over 11 years before moving to the Ohio River Forecast Center (OHRFC) of the National Weather Service in March 2007.
[6] Chen's primary work was to develop and implement the Ohio River Community HEC-RAS Model,[7] which was the largest of its kind in the nation at that time.
"[8] Chen worked during a critical period of the record-setting flood event to get the best possible model results to aid the USACE in their operational decision-making process.
Towards the end of the meeting, Jiao said his office was trying to fund the repairs of China's aging reservoir system and would to know how this may work in the U.S. As a favor, Chen agreed to help.
[1] Once she returned to US, Chen searched the National Inventory of Dams database using a colleague's password he gave to her and sent Jiao some public websites.
Not long after, this colleague reported Chen to the government security agency suggesting that she may be a Chinese spy attempting to gather U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water control manuals.
The original charges included accusing Chen of stealing data, intentionally exceeding authorized access to a database and making two false statements to investigators.
In Chen's case, the management agency is the Department of Commerce (DOC), which oversees the NWS housed in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The judge further criticised DOC officials for "digging their heels in when it came time to support the decision they had made," observing that "Ms. Furgione and Admiral Devany seemed more concerned about being right than doing the right thing.
In addition the Commerce Department will host a private meeting between Chen and a senior National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration official to discuss wrongdoing at several levels of the agency and anti-discrimination reforms.