Whistleblowers Win Support
The Center for Investigative Reporting and Salon have teamed up on a new report arguing that "federal whistleblowers almost never receive legal protection after they take action."
Among the alleged reprisals detailed:
- Joseph D. Whitson Jr. was a civilian chemist in the Air Force who spoke out about superiors falsifying drug test results. His desk was moved to a room in the basement and his job duties stripped.
- Vernie Gee Sr. was an agricultural inspector who sounded the alarm about tainted meat in the U.S. food supply and inspectors taking bribes from slaughterhouses. Gee was beaten up by a plant worker during an inspection -- and then reprimanded by superiors for fighting.
- George Randall Taylor, a chief of police at a Navy base in Bermuda, exposed coverups of rapes on the base. He was then forced into a psychiatric hospital.
- Before Teresa Chambers was fired from the Park Police, she found used condoms on her car, and someone pepper-sprayed her office door.
Of course, the report also notes that recent whistleblower cases "included one in which an employee sought protection after reporting missing candy bars at a government commissary. In another case, a worker complained about colleagues using a drinking fountain as a spittoon. One government worker was discovered by investigators to have fabricated his entire complaint. Most such cases, however, are weeded out of the system."
My favorite part, though, was the video highlighting the efforts of one of the pioneers of whistleblower protection legislation: Sen. Richard M. Nixon.
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Government Executive Editor in Chief Tom Shoop, along with other editors and staff correspondents, take a fresh look at news affecting the management and operations of the federal bureaucracy.
This is not news to anyone who has worked for the government. It is widely accepted that doing the right thing has to be its own reward, because there is no other. And no good deed goes unpunished.
Ted Bean Posted Monday, November 5, 2007 10:55 AMgeorge taylor is the best person i have ever worked for (dod police port hueneme) 1993/4. honest/ caring and the most inportant.. dedicated the the military and the people below him. i trust him with my life. and did. he always stuck his neck out for what is right. i will never forget him or his loyaly. he is someone that i still admire.
allen g pringle Posted Tuesday, August 25, 2009 12:10 PMI filed a sexual harassment at Tinker AFB and I am going through retaliation right now. Reprisals come from civilian management and AF leadership. I have offered to take a lie detector test and I am just laughed at. I have been to the OSI and all the other organizations for help. They believe me but are afraid to take action. I developed an intestinal disease over the past 15 months related to the stress I worked in everyday. Please give me one person I can go to for help. I don't know how much more I can take dealing with the EEO complaint. The process does not work. I work in a building with 12 to 15 thousands people everyday. The EEO process is designed so management wins by not dealing with it. I would like to know how many complaints came out of this building in favor of the complaintent. HELP!!
Barbara B. Graham Posted Wednesday, January 20, 2010 8:18 AM