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==Famous whistleblowers==
==Famous whistleblowers==


See [[List of famous whistleblowers]]
* [[Stanley Adams (whistleblower)|Stanley Adams]], a former [[Hoffmann-LaRoche]] executive, who discovered evidence of [[price fixing]] in [[1973]]. He passed the evidence to the [[European Economic Community]], who erroneously leaked Adams' name back to Hoffman-LaRoche. Adams was arrested for industrial espionage by the [[Switzerland|Swiss]] government and spent six months in jail. He fought for ten years to clear his name and receive compensation from the EEC.
* Ingvar Bratt, a former [[Bofors]] engineer who revealed himself as the anonymous source in the [[Bofors Scandal]] about illegal weapon exports. An act that led to a new Swedish law ([http://www.riksdagen.se/webbnav/index.aspx?nid=3911&bet=1990:409 SFS 1990:409]) concerning company secrets which commonly is referred to as ''Lex Bratt''.
* [[Shawn Carpenter]], a former member of the technical staff at [[Sandia National Laboratories]] who discovered that a sophisticated group of [[hackers]] were systematically penetrating hundreds of computer networks at major U.S. defense contractors, military installations and government agencies to access sensitive information. After informing his superiors at Sandia, he was directed not to share the information with anyone, because management cared only about Sandia's computers. He, however, went on to voluntarily work with the [[U.S. Army]] and the [[FBI]] to address the problem. When Sandia discovered his actions, they terminated his employment and revoked his [[security clearance]]. His story was first reported in the September 5, 2005, issue of [[Time Magazine|''Time'']]. On February 13, 2007, a New Mexico State Court awarded him $4.7 million in damages from Sandia Corporation for firing him. The jury found Sandia Corporation's handling of Mr. Carpenter's firing was "malicious, willful, reckless, wanton, fraudulent, or in bad faith."
* Richard Convertino, a former federal prosecutor who obtained the first conviction of a defendant in a terrorism case post-9/11. After Convertino testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee in September 2003 about the lack of Bush Administration support of anti-terrorism prosecutions post-9/11, Convertino alleges the Justice Department leaked information and violated a court order to publicly smear him in retaliation for his whistleblowing. Additionally, the Justice Department indicted Convertino for obstruction of justice and lying, which Convertino alleges is further whistleblower retaliation.
* [[Cynthia Cooper (WorldCom)|Cynthia Cooper]] of [[MCI Inc.|Worldcom]] and [[Sherron Watkins]] of [[Enron]], who exposed corporate financial scandals, and [[Coleen Rowley]] of the [[FBI]], who later outlined the agency's slow action prior to the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]]. The three were selected as ''Time'''s [[Person of the Year|People of the Year]] in [[2002]].
* [[Allen Cutler]], the first whistleblower on the Canadian "AdScam" or [[sponsorship scandal]]. Without WB protection, he was fired by the [[Canadian government]].
* [[Joe Darby]], a member of the [[Military Police#United States of America|United States military police]] who in [[2004]] first alerted the U.S. military command of prisoner abuse in the [[Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse|Abu Ghraib prison]], in [[Abu Ghraib]], [[Iraq]].
* Walter Denino, a student who questioned [[Eric Poehlman|Eric Poehlman's]] [[integrity]].
* [[Pascal Diethelm]] and [[Jean-Charles Rielle]], Swiss tobacco control advocates and alumni from the University of Geneva who revealed the secret ties of [[Ragnar Rylander]], professor of environmental health, to the tobacco industry. In a public statement made in 2001, Pascal Diethelm and Jean-Charles Rielle accused Rylander of being "secretly employed by Philip Morris" and qualified of "scientific fraud without precedent" the concealment of his links with the tobacco industry for a period of 30 years, during which he publicly presented himself as an independent scientist, while obeying orders given by Philip Morris executives and lawyers, publishing articles and organizing symposia which denied or trivialized the toxicity of [[passive smoking|secondhand smoke]]. After a long trial, which went up to the supreme court of Switzerland, all accusations were found to be true.<ref>http://www.prevention.ch/ryjue151203.pdf</ref> Following this judgment, the University of Geneva prohibited its members from soliciting research subsidies or direct or indirect consultancies with the tobacco industry.<ref>http://www.prevention.ch/rye060904.pdf</ref>
* [[Satyendra Dubey]], who accused employer [[NHAI]] of corruption in highway construction projects in [[India]], in letter to Prime Minister [[Atal Behari Vajpayee]]. Assassinated on [[November 27, 2003]]. Enormous media coverage following his death may lead to Whistleblower Act in India.
* [[Duncan Edmonds]], a [[Canadian]] civil servant who in 1984 reported to his chief, the top Canadian civil servant, that Minister of Defence [[Robert Coates]] had visited a [[West German]] strip club while on an official mission, with [[NATO]] documents in his possession, creating a security risk. Coates was asked to resign from Cabinet by Prime Minister [[Brian Mulroney]], who also fired Edmonds and made him [[persona non grata]] in government circles.<ref>''The Insiders: Government, Business, and the Lobbyists'', by [[John Sawatsky]], 1987)</ref>
* [[Sibel Edmonds]], a former [[FBI]] translator naturalized [[Turkish American|American citizen of Turkish descent]] who was fired in 2002 by the FBI for attempting to report coverups of security issues, potential espionage, and incompetence. She has been gagged by the [[State Secrets Privilege]] in her efforts to go to court on these issues, including a rejection recently by the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] to hear her case without comment. She is now founder of the [[National Security Whistleblowers Coalition]] (NSWBC) that is looking to lobby congress and help other whistleblowers with legal and other forms of assistance.
* [[Daniel Ellsberg]], a former [[United States State Department|State Department]] [[analyst]] who leaked the [[Pentagon Papers]] in [[1971]], a secret account of the [[Vietnam War]] and its pretexts to ''[[The New York Times]]'', which revealed endemic practices of [[deception]] by previous administrations, and contributed to the erosion of public support for the war.
* '''[[Janet Howard, Tanya Ward Jordan and Joyce E. Megginson]],''' who blew the whistle on widespread systemic racism and retaliation within the Department of Commerce against African-American employees.<ref>[http://www.feldf.com Federal Employees Legal Defense Fund]</ref>
* [[Marlene Garcia Esperat]], a former [[analytical chemist]] for the [[Department of Agriculture (Philippines)|Philippines Department of Agriculture]] who became a [[journalist]] to expose departmental [[Political corruption|corruption]], and was murdered for it in 2005. Her assailants later surrendered to police, and have testified that they were hired by officials in the Department of Agriculture.
* [[W. Mark Felt]], (aka [[Deep Throat (Watergate)|Deep Throat]]), an informant (secret until 2005) who in [[1972]] leaked information about United States President [[Richard Nixon]]'s involvement in [[Watergate scandal|Watergate]]. The scandal would eventually lead to the resignation of the president, and prison terms for White House Chief of Staff [[H. R. Haldeman]] and presidential adviser [[John Ehrlichman]].
* [[A. Earnest Fitzgerald]], a U.S. Department of Defense auditor who was fired in 1973 by President Richard M. Nixon for exposing to Congress the tidal wave of cost overruns associated with Lockheed's C-5A cargo plane. After protracted litigation he was reinstated to the civil service and continued to report cost overruns and military contractor fraud, including discovery in the 1980s that the Air Force was being charged $400 for hammers and $600 for toilet seats. Mr. Fitzgerald retired from the Defense Department in 2006. <ref>[http://www.dodig.mil/IGInformation/archives/ErnieFitzgerladRetirement022806.htm "What's New" Archives]</ref>
* [[David Franklin (pharmacy)|David Franklin]], a former Parke-Davis employee (a division of [[Pfizer]]) who exposed illegal marketing of Neurontin ([[gabapentin]]), an epilepsy drug, for relieving pain, headaches, bipolar disorder and other psychiatric illnesses. The case revealed that the company marketed the drug for these illnesses while withholding evidence that the drug was not effective for these illnesses. After initially denying wrongdoing, Pfizer plead guilty to criminal violation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act and paid criminal and civil fines of $430 million dollars. This case has opened a unique window into pharmaceutical industry practices through the achieving <ref>[http://dida.library.ucsf.edu Drug Industry Document Archive]</ref> and study<ref>[http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/145/4/284 Narrative Review: The Promotion of Gabapentin: An Analysis of Internal Industry Documents -- Steinman et al. 145 (4): 284 -- Annals of Internal Medicine]</ref> of documents by UCSF obtained by Franklin’s attorney Thomas Greene. The Franklin v. Pfizer case was unique in a number of ways: it was the largest settlement obtained for U.S. taxpayers in a case not joined by the Department of Justice, it established a new standard of accountability for pharmaceutical industry marketing practices, it broadened the use of the False Claims Act to include fraudulent marketing claims (not just financial fraud) as criminal violations of federal and state law, it revealed the involvement, complicity and active participation in fraud by many renowned physicians, and it demonstrated that the medical literature which is the foundation for medical practice and particularly off-label prescribing by physicians has been deeply adulterated by the pharmaceutical industry and its paid clinical consultants. Franklin v. Pfizer showed that pharmaceutical control of the healthcare system, including doctors and pharmacists resulted in a large number of patients (not just Medicare/Medicaid) paying a great deal of money (Neurontin sales were $2.2 billion in 2004) for a drug that did nothing to help their illness.
* [[Bunnatine Greenhouse|Bunnatine "Bunny" H. Greenhouse]], a former chief civilian contracting officer for the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] who exposed illegality in the no-bid contracts for reconstruction in Iraq by a [[Halliburton]] subsidiary.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/18/AR2005101801796_pf.html washingtonpost.com - A Web of Truth]</ref>
* [[Katharine Gun]], a former employee of [[Government Communications Headquarters]] (GCHQ), a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[intelligence agency]] who in [[2003]] leaked top-secret information to the press concerning alleged illegal activities by the United States and the United Kingdom in their push for the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].
* [[Cathy Harris]], a former [[United States Customs Service]] employee who exposed rampant racial profiling against Black travellers while working at [[Hartsfield International Airport]] in [[Atlanta, Georgia]]. According to Harris's book, ''Flying While Black: A Whistleblower's Story'', she personally observed numerous incidents of Black travellers being stopped, frisked, body-cavity-searched, detained for hours at local hospitals, forced to take laxatives, bowel-monitored and subjected to public and private racist/colorist humiliation. The book also details her allegations of mismanagement, abuses of authority, prohibited personnel practices, waste, fraud, violation of laws, rules and regulations, corruption, nepotism, cronyism, favoritism, workplace violence, racial and sexual harassment, sexism, intimidation, on and off the job stalking, etc., and other illegal acts that occurs daily to federal employees especially female federal employees at U.S. Customs and other federal agencies.
* [[Marc Hodler]], [[International Olympic Committee]], a IOC member who, in December 1998, blew the whistle on the [[2002 Winter Olympic bid scandal|Winter Olympic bid scandal for the 2002 Salt Lake City games]].
* [[Douglas Keeth]] who, in 1989, filed a [[Qui Tam]] lawsuit against [[United Technologies Corporation]] where he held the title vice president, finance. Mr. Keeth and others had investigated billing practices at a corporate division named Sikorsky Aircraft. The group uncovered inflated progress billings, going back at least as far as 1982. The corporation offered Mr. Keeth a $1 million severance if he would keep quiet. Mr. Keeth did not accept that offer. In 1994, United Technologies paid $150 million to the government. Mr. Keeth was awarded a bounty of $22.5 million.
* [[Mark Klein]], a retired communications technician for [[AT&T]], revealed the details of his personal knowledge of the secret 2003 construction of a monitoring facility in [[Room 641A]] of 611 Folsom Street in San Francisco, the site of a large SBC phone building, three floors of which are occupied by AT&T. The facility is alleged to be one of several operated by the [[National Security Agency]] as part of the [[NSA_warrantless_surveillance_controversy#Technical_and_operational_details|warrantless surveillance]] undertaken by the Bush administration in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/homefront/interviews/klein.html
| work=Public Broadcasting System
| title="Spying on the Home Front" - Interview with Mark Klein
| author=Frontline
| date=2007-01-09
| accessdate=2007-08-15
}}</ref>
* [[Karen Kwiatkowski]], a retired lieutenant colonel in the [[U.S. Air Force]] who worked as a desk officer in [[The Pentagon]] and in a number of roles in the [[National Security Agency]]. She has written a number of essays on corrupting political influences of [[military intelligence]] leading up to the [[invasion of Iraq]] in 2003, and has said that she was the anonymous source for [[Seymour Hersh]] and [[Warren Strobel]] on their exposés of pre-war intelligence.
* [[S. Manjunath]], a formerly manager at [[Indian Oil Corporation]] Ltd (IOCL), and crusader against adulteration of petrol. He was shot dead on [[November 19]], 2005, allegedly by a petrol pump owner from [[Uttar Pradesh]].
* [[Hans-Peter Martin]], who accused [[European Parliament]] members of invalid expense claims in 2004.
* [[Christoph Meili]], a night guard at a [[Switzerland|Swiss]] bank. He discovered that his employer was destroying records of savings by [[Holocaust]] victims, which the bank was required to return to heirs of the victims. After the Swiss authorities sought to arrest Meili, he was given [[political asylum]] in the [[United States]].
* [[Stewart Menzies]], a British intelligence officer, who while serving in [[France]] during [[World War I]], reported that General [[Douglas Haig]], the Commander-in-Chief, was fudging intelligence estimates, leading to the needless death of thousands of British soldiers.
* [[Clive Ponting]], a senior civil servant in the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] who leaked classified documents to Labour [[Member of Parliament|MP]], [[Tam Dalyel]] confirming that the ''[[ARA General Belgrano|General Belgrano]]'' was sunk by United Kingdom forces during the [[Falklands War]] while outside the total exclusion zone contradicting statements by the UK Government.
* [[Samuel Provance]], a system administrator for [[Military Intelligence]] at the [[Abu Ghraib]] prison who publicly revealed the role of [[interrogation|interrogators]] in the abuses, as well the general effort to cover-up the [[Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse]] itself.
* [[Peter Rost (doctor)]]. Peter Rost was a former vice president at the pharmaceutical company [[Pfizer]] that reported about accounting irregularities and other irregularities to the US authorities. In response to his whistleblowing he was exiled internally by Pfizer and removed from all responsibilities and decision making. In 2004, he testified in Congress as a private individual in favour of drug reimportation, a position strongly at odds with the official policy of the pharmaceutical industry. In December 2005, Rost was fired from Pfizer. In September 2006 he published his experiences in the book “The Whistleblower: Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman”
* [[William Sanjour]], a whistleblower at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for over 20 years who also wrote on whistleblower protection issues.<ref>[http://sanjour.us Collected Papers of William Sanjour]</ref> He won a landmark law suit against the federal government which established the First Amendment rights of federal employees to "blow the whistle" on their employer. [Sanjour v. EPA,56 F.3d 85 (D.C. Cir. 1995)(en banc)]
* [[Frank Serpico]], a former [[New York City]] [[police officer]] who reported several of his fellow officers for [[bribery]] and related charges. He is the first officer to testify against police corruption.
* [[Karen Silkwood]], a labor union activist and chemical technician at the [[Kerr-McGee]] nuclear plant near [[Crescent, Oklahoma]]. The 1983 film [[Silkwood]] is an account of this story.
* [[Russ Tice]], a former intelligence analyst for the [[National Security Agency]] (NSA), the [[U.S. Air Force]], [[Office of Naval Intelligence]], and the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] (DIA). Most recently he is one of the sources used by the [[New York Times]] in reporting on [[NSA warrantless surveillance controversy|the NSA wiretapping controversy]]. He had earlier been known for reporting suspicions that a DIA colleague of his might be a [[China|Chinese]] [[espionage|spy]].
* [[Linda Tripp]], a former White House staff member who disclosed to the Office of Independent Counsel that [[Monica Lewinsky]] committed perjury and attempted to suborn perjury, and President [[William J. Clinton]] committed misconduct, by denying the Clinton-Lewinsky relationship in the [[Paula Jones]] federal civil rights suit. A victim of retaliation by the Clinton Administration, Tripp won her lawsuit against the federal government for violating the [[Privacy Act of 1974]] when it leaked personal information about her to the press.
* [[Paul van Buitenen]], who accused [[European Commission]] members of [[government corruption|corruption]]. (See [[Santer Commission#Resignation|Resignation of the Santer Commission]]).
* [[John Paul Vann]], an American colonel, who, during the [[Vietnam War]], reported to his superiors that American policy and tactics were seriously flawed, and later went to the media with his concerns. Vann was asked to resign his commission, did so, but later returned to Vietnam.
* [[Mordechai Vanunu]]<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/programmes/correspondent/transcripts/17_03_2003.txt</ref><ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=%20417663&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y Capturing nuclear whistle-blower was `a lucky stroke,' agents recall - Haaretz - Israel News]</ref> who revealed Israel's [[Israel and weapons of mass destruction#Nuclear weapons|clandestine nuclear program]] to the [[History of British newspapers|British press]] in [[1986]]. He spent seventeen and a half years in prison as a result, the first eleven of these in solitary confinement. After his release, sanctions were placed on him: among others, he was not allowed to leave Israel or speak to foreigners. The sanctions have been renewed every twelve months. At present, he is appealing a further six month prison sentence imposed by an Israeli court for having spoken to foreigners and foreign press.
* [[Frederic Whitehurst]], a chemist at the U.S. [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] who was the FBI Laboratory's foremost expert on explosives residue in the 1990s, and became the first modern-day FBI whistleblower. He reported a lack of scientific standards and serious flaws in the FBI Lab, including in the first World Trade Center bombing cases and the Oklahoma City bombing case. Dr. Whitehurst's whistleblower disclosures triggered an overhaul of the FBI's crime lab following a report by the U.S. Department of Justice Inspector General in 1997. Dr. Whitehust filed a federal lawsuit claiming whistleblower retaliation, and he reached a settlement with the FBI worth more than $1.16 million. <ref>[http://www.cnn.com/US/9802/27/fbi.whitehurst/ CNN - FBI whistle-blower leaves, gets $1.16 million - February 27, 1998]</ref> Whitehurst now directs the FBI Oversight Project of the [[National Whistleblower Center]].
* [[Jeffrey Wigand]], a former executive of [[Brown & Williamson]] who exposed his company's practice of intentionally manipulating the effect of [[nicotine]] in cigarettes on the [[CBS]] news program [[60 Minutes]]. Famously known as the man who blew the whistle on [[Big Tobacco]] and almost single-handedly revealed the health dangers of smoking to the public.
* [[Andrew Wilkie]], an Australian intelligence officer at the [[Office of National Assessments]] who resigned in March 2003 over concerns [[intelligence]] reports were incorrectly claiming Iraq possessed [[weapons of mass destruction]].
* [[Joseph C. Wilson|Joseph Wilson]], former U.S. ambassador, whose July 6, 2003 editorial in the [[New York Times]], "What I Didn't Find In Africa", exposed pretexts for the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].{{lopsided}}
* Dr Rita Pal is a UK NHS Whistleblower. Raised issues of patient neglect on Ward 87 North Staffordshire NHS Trust Stoke on Trent in 1998. Professor Steve Bolsin's report is detailed here<ref>http://www.nhsexposed.com/healthworkers/doctors/gmc/steve-bolsin-report.doc</ref> and 2001 Internal Report into the ward is detailed <ref>[http://www.nhsexposed.com/patients/hospitals/nstaffs/city-general-hospital-report.shtml NHS Exposed - The Truth Behind The White Coat - A Killing Field - Ward 87, City General Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent]</ref>. Concerns raised with the General Medical Council UK but investigation reversed on the whistleblower. The GMC raised the spectre of mental illness to discredit the whistleblowing issues. Dr Pal subsequently sued in libel.<ref>[http://www.nhsexposed.com/healthworkers/doctors/gmc/pal_v_general_medical_council.shtml NHS Exposed - The Truth Behind The White Coat - GMC like ‘totalitarian regime’ says judge]</ref> R Pal v General Medical Council, Sarah Bedwell, Peter Lynn and Catherine Green is the first libel case won on strike out and settled by a whistleblower. Dr Pal have also whistleblown in the London Sunday Times 2nd April 2000<ref>[http://www.nhsexposed.com/patients/hospitals/nstaffs/elderly.shtml Elderly are helped to die to clear beds, claims doctor ]</ref> Currently Dr Pal edits and features matters exclusively related to the NHS on http://www.nhsexposed.com and the blog http://www.nhsexposedblog.blogspot.com

* M.N.Vijayakumar, an IAS officer in Karnataka, India blew whistle exposing serious corrupt practices at high level.His wife JN.Jayashree fearing for his life setup a website http://fightcorruption.wikidot.com/ detailing her husband's efforts to fight corruption. See http://www.transparency.org/index.php/news_room/in_focus/2007/whistleblowers as to what Transparency International says about them and the New York Times report here http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/05/technology/05whistle.htm


== Whistleblower Week in Washington (WWW) ==
== Whistleblower Week in Washington (WWW) ==

Revision as of 23:49, 27 February 2008

File:Whistleblower picture.jpg
Poster in support of whistleblower legislation

A whistleblower is an employee, former employee, or member of an organization, especially a business or government agency, who reports misconduct to people or entities that have the power and presumed willingness to take corrective action. Generally the misconduct is a violation of law, rule, regulation and/or a direct threat to public interest, such as fraud, health/safety violations, and corruption. One of the most publicized whistleblowing cases involved Jeffrey Wigand, who exposed the Big Tobacco scandal, revealing that executives of the companies knew that cigarettes were addictive while approving the addition of known carcinogenic ingredients to the cigarettes. Wigand's story was the basis for the 1999 movie The Insider. Another famous whistleblower is Dr. Frederic Whitehurst, who exposed irregularities at the Federal Bureau of Investigation's FBI Crime Lab. In Europe, a famous whistleblower is Paul van Buitenen who exposed irregularities in the European Commission.

Overview

Origins of term "whistleblower"

The term whistleblower derives from the practice of English bobbies who would blow their whistle when they noticed the commission of a crime. The blowing of the whistle would alert both law enforcement officers and the general public of danger.[1]

Definition of a whistleblower

The majority of whistleblowing cases are based on relatively minor misconduct. The most common type of whistleblowers are internal whistleblowers, who report misconduct to another employee or superior within their company or agency. In contrast, external whistleblowers report misconduct to outside persons or entities. In these cases, depending on its severity and nature, whistleblowers may report the misconduct to lawyers, the media, law enforcement or watchdog agencies, or to other local, state, or federal agencies.

Under most U.S. federal whistleblower statutes, in order to be considered a whistleblower, the federal employee must reasonably believe his or her employer has committed a violation of some law, rule or regulation; testify or commence a legal proceeding on the legally protected matter; or refuse to violate the law. If the disclosure is specifically prohibited by law or is specifically required by executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense, the reporting by a whistleblower might be considered by a few to be treason.[citation needed] However, in the United States, there are not any cases in which the whistleblower has been tried for "treason" and it is not treasonous to blow the whistle on illegal conduct by government officials. And, of course, the vice-versa is true; a whistle blower may also report activities that are treasonous, thus validating the concept of whistleblowing.[unbalanced opinion?] However, the fact is, a whistleblower dealing with a matter of national security who claims they have suffered retaliation likely will see their lawsuit quashed as to litigate it would compromise national security.

There are those who view whistleblowing narrowly and try to limit the impact of whistleblowing by arguing that so-called role-prescribed whistleblowing, for example whistleblowing done by quality control personnel or internal auditors, does not constitute whistleblowing in the traditional sense, because the purpose of the employment is to report such things.[citation needed] However, the U.S. courts have uniformily held that persons who hold quality control or auditor positions are protected from retaliation for reporting violations of law or regulations.

There is a false dichotomy between "internal" and "external" whistleblowing, and under U.S. federal law, many courts have failed to distinguish between the two. For example, in the field of federal environmental whistleblowing the federal courts have held that protecting "internal" whistleblowing is wise as a matter of public policy because whistleblower statutes are intended to encourage the free flow of information to prevent violations, "internal" reporting promotes resolving problems at the earliest possible stage, and discouraging "internal" reporting can have disastrous consequences[unbalanced opinion?].

Common reactions to whistleblowing

Ideas about whistleblowing vary widely. Some see whistleblowers as selfless martyrs for public interest and organizational accountability; others view them as 'dobbers' or "snitches" (slang), solely pursuing personal glory and fame. Because the majority of cases are very low-profile and receive little or no media attention and because whistleblowers who do report significant misconduct are usually put in some form of danger or persecution, the latter view is generally less held.[citation needed]

Persecution of whistleblowers has become a serious issue in many parts of the world. Although whistleblowers are often protected under law from employer retaliation, there have been many cases where punishment for whistleblowing has occurred, such as termination, suspension, demotion, wage garnishment, and/or harsh mistreatment by other employees. For example, in the United States, most whistleblower protection laws provide for limited "make whole" remedies or damages for employment losses if whistleblower retaliation is proven. However, many whistleblowers report there exists a wide-spread "shoot the messenger" mentality by corporations or government agencies accused of misconduct and in some cases whistleblowers have been subjected to criminal prosecution in reprisal for reporting wrongdoing.

As a reaction to this many private organizations have formed whistleblower legal defense funds or support groups to assist whistleblowers; one such example in the UK is Public Concern at Work. Depending on the circumstances, it is not uncommon for whistleblowers to be ostracized by their co-workers, discriminated against by future potential employers, or even fired from their organization. This campaign directed at whistleblowers with the goal of eliminating them from the organization is referred to as mobbing. It is an extreme form of workplace bullying wherein the group is set against the targeted individual.

Legal protection for whistleblowers

Legal protection for whistleblowing varies from country to country. In the United Kingdom, the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 provides a framework of legal protection for individuals who disclose information so as to expose malpractice and matters of similar concern. In the vernacular, it protects whistleblowers from victimisation and dismissal.

In the United States, legal protections vary according to the subject matter of the whistleblowing, and sometimes the state in which the case arises. In passing the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Senate Judiciary Committee found that whistleblower protections were dependent on the "patchwork and vagaries" of varying state statutes. (Congressional Record p. S7412; S. Rep. No. 107-146, 107th Cong., 2d Session 19 (2002).) Still, a wide variety of federal and state laws protect employees who call attention to violations, help with enforcement proceedings, or refuse to obey unlawful directions.

The first U.S. law adopted specifically to protect whistleblowers was the Lloyd-La Follette Act of 1912. It guaranteed the right of federal employees to furnish information to the United States Congress. The first U.S. environmental law to include an employee protection was the Water Pollution Control Act of 1972, also called the Clean Water Act. Similar protections were included in subsequent federal environmental laws including the Safe Drinking Water Act (1974), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (also called the Solid Waste Disposal Act) (1976), Toxic Substances Control Act (1976), Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (through 1978 amendment to protect nuclear whistleblowers), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, or the Superfund Law) (1980), and the Clean Air Act (1990). Similar employee protections enforced through OSHA are included in the Surface Transportation Assistance Act (1982) to protect truck drivers, the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act (PSIA) of 2002, the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century ("AIR 21"), and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, enacted on July 30, 2002 (for corporate fraud whistleblowers).

The patchwork of laws means that victims of retaliation need to be alert to the laws at issue to determine the deadlines and means for making proper complaints. Some deadlines are as short as 10 days (for Arizona State Employees to file a "Prohibited Personnel Practice" Complaint before the Arizona State Personnel Board; and Ohio public employees to file appeals with the State Personnel Board of Review). It is 30 days for environmental whistleblowers to make a written complaint to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA]. Federal employees complaining of discrimination, retaliation or other violations of the civil rights laws have 45 days to make a written complaint to their agency's equal employment opportunity (EEO) officer. Airline workers and corporate fraud whistleblowers have 90 days to make their complaint to OSHA. Nuclear whistleblowers and truck drivers have 180 days to make complaints to OSHA. Victims of retaliation against union organizing and other concerted activities to improve working conditions have 180 days to make complaints to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Private sector employees have either 180 or 300 days to make complaints to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) (depending on whether their state has a "deferral" agency) for discrimination claims on the basis of race, gender, age, national origin or religion (but here an example of retaliation can be seen, as these anti-discrimination agencies change their areas of discrimination to suit their needs. An area of discrimination in California was if a complaining party had a civil servant relative. The state Department of Fair Employment and Housing quickly called an end to this practice. The state's RALPH Act has also proven to be non-functional.) Those who face retaliation for seeking minimum wages or overtime have either two or three years to file a civil lawsuit, depending on whether the court finds the violation was "willful."

Those who report a false claim against the federal government, and suffer adverse employment actions as a result, may have up to six years (depending on state law) to file a civil suit for remedies under the U.S. False Claims Act (FCA). 31 U.S.C. § 3730(h). Under a qui tam provision, the "original source" for the report may be entitled to a percentage of what the government recovers from the offenders. However, the "original source" must also be the first to file a federal civil complaint for recovery of the federal funds fraudulently obtained, and must avoid publicizing the claim of fraud until the U.S. Justice Department decides whether to prosecute the claim itself. Such qui tam lawsuits must be filed under seal, using special procedures to keep the claim from becoming public until the federal government makes its decision on direct prosecution.

Federal employees could benefit from the Whistleblower Protection Act (5 U.S.C. § 1221(e)), and the No FEAR Act (which made individual agencies directly responsible for the economic sanctions of unlawful retaliation). Federal protections are enhanced in those few cases were the Office of Special Counsel will uphold the whistleblower's case.

The Military Whistleblower Protection Act (10 U.S.C. § 1034), protects the right of members of the armed services to communicate with any member of Congress (even if copies of the communication are sent to others).

The HOPE Scholarship in Georgia is the only incentive to report corporate, government, or religious crimes. This scholarship provides four years of free tuition to a tech school or University in Georgia for children of whistleblowers or those researching corporate crime.

Whistleblower Protection Act of 2007

The U.S. Supreme Court's dealt a major blow to government whistleblowers when, in the case of Garcetti v. Ceballos, 04-473, it ruled that government employees did not have protection from retaliation by their employers under the First Amendment of the Constitution.[2]

The free speech protections of the First Amendment have long been used to shield whistleblowers from retaliation by whistleblower attorneys. In response to the Supreme Court decision, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 985, the Whistleblower Protection Act of 2007. President George W. Bush, citing national security concerns, promised to veto the bill should it be enacted into law by Congress. The Senate's version of the Whistleblower Protection Act (S. 274), which has significant bipartisan support, was approved by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on June 13, 2007. However, it has yet to reach a vote by Senate as a hold has been placed on the bill by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK).[3] According to the National Whistleblower Center, Coburn's hold on S. 274 has been done to further President Bush's agenda.[4]

Famous whistleblowers

See List of famous whistleblowers

Whistleblower Week in Washington (WWW)

The week of May 13-19 2007, whistleblowers from all over the country gathered in Washington, D.C., to convince the United States Congress to pass stronger whistleblower protections for both government and private sector workers. Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, founder of the No FEAR Coalition and No FEAR Institute, served as Chair of the first ever Whistleblower Week in Washington. The event was coordinated around the fifth anniversary of the May 15, 2002 enactment of the "Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002," which is now known as the No FEAR Act. One purpose of the Act is to "require that Federal agencies be accountable for violations of antidiscrimination and whistleblower protection laws." Public Law 107-174. The law came to fruition after Dr. Coleman-Adebayo provided congressional testimony about American companies exposing African miners and their families to vanadium, a deadly substance. During WWW dozens of nonprofit organizations, whistleblower groups and individual whistleblowers participated in a broad range of activities that included discussion panels, testimony, award ceremonies, a film night and book signing, and workshops in advocacy, stress management, whistleblower law, and mentoring. Doctors from the "Semmelweis Society International" played a leading role in organizing the event, along with the Civil rights whistleblower advocates, the No FEAR Institute. Prominent organizations included the Government Accountability Project (GAP), The National Whistleblower Center, The VA Whistleblower Coalition, The National Whistleblower Security Coalition, the ACLU, Public Citizen, the Liberty Coalition, and The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS). Betsy Combier represented the E-Accountability Foundation. Linda Lesbo, chair of Whistleblowers USA, played a special role and noted that "too many very brave whistleblowers were present to adequately honor their accomplishments and their contributions to the conference." Senator Charles Grassley saluted the group, and called on the White House to hold a rose garden ceremony to honor whistleblowers. The group plans to make this an annual event, and asks all whistleblowers from all over the country to contact WWW now at the WWW website. For a list of participating organizations in the WWW 2007 visit website at http://www.whistle-week-in-dc.org/

Also see

Look up whistleblowing in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Resources

  • Project On Government Oversight, Homeland and National Security Whistleblower Protections: The Unfinished Agenda, April, 2006.
  • Frais,A Whistleblowing heroes - boon or burden? Bulletin of Medical Ethics, 2001Aug:(170):13-19.
  • Alford, C. Fred (2001). Whistleblowers: Broken Lives and Organizational Power. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-3841-1.
  • Garrett, Allison, "Auditor Whistle Blowing: The Financial Fraud Detection and Disclosure Act," 17 Seton Hall Legis. J. 91 (1993).
  • Hunt, Geoffrey (20061). The Principle of Complementarity: Freedom of Information, Public Accountability and Whistleblowing in Chapman, R & Hunt, M (eds) Freedom of Information: Perspectives on Open Government in a Theoretical and Practical Context. Ashgate, Aldershot, UK. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)
  • Hunt, Geoffrey (2000). Whistleblowing, Accountability & Ethical Accounting, in. Clinical Risk 6(3): 115-16.
  • Hunt, Geoffrey (1998). 'Whistleblowing', commissioned entry for Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics, (8,000 words). Academic Press, California, USA,.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  • Hunt, Geoffrey (ed) (1998). Whistleblowing in the Social Services: Public Accountability & Professional Practice. Arnold. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  • Hunt, G (ed) (1995). Whistleblowing in the Health Service: Accountability, Law & Professional Practice. Arnold. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  • Johnson, Roberta Ann (2002). Whistleblowing: When It Works—And Why. ISBN 978-1588261144. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |publishe= ignored (help)
  • Kohn, Stephen M (2000). Concepts and Procedures in Whistleblower Law. Quorum Books. ISBN 1-56720-354-X.
  • Kohn, Stephen M; Kohn, Michael D; Colapinto, David K. (2004). Whistleblower Law A Guide to Legal Protections for Corporate Employees. Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0-275-98127-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Miethe, Terance D (1991). Whistleblowing at work : tough choices in exposing fraud, waste, and abuse on the job. Westview Press. ISBN 0-81—33-3549-3.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Category:Whistleblower.

Notes

  1. ^ Winters v. Houston Chronicle Pub. Co., 795 S.W.2d 723, 727 (Tex. 1990) (Doggett, J., concurring).
  2. ^ High Court Trims Whistleblower Rights
  3. ^ Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2007 - Congresspedia
  4. ^ Take Action Now

Regarding Christoph Meili, a night guard at a Swiss bank. He discovered that his employer was destroying records of savings by Holocaust victims, which the bank was required to return to heirs of the victims. After the Swiss authorities sought to arrest Meili, he was given political asylum in the United States, especially thanks to work of former senator Alfonse D' Amato, who actually used Christoph Meili for his last political campaign to the senate in 1998. Despite having won his lawsuit, Meili never received any compensation from the Swiss Bank, went through a divorce and was abandoned by the people and the organizations who once treated him like an hero.

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