If you've ever been a whistleblower, how did it work out?

[LiberalHeart]

Did you ever blow the whistle on corruption where you work -- and if so, were you the one who paid the price, or did the culprit?

Was it worth whatever it cost you personally?

Would you do it again, if if you had it to do over?

[Emit]

1. When I was very young -- I worked in a men's clothing store

My boss at the time -- an abusive man with a cocaine addiction to boot -- was stealing money from a small fund we had on hand for emergency and local expenses. He'd put in a 'chit' -- a promise to repay -- but then he started to cheat about that, too.

I called the main office. The big guys came down and investigated. Other employees backed me up.

He was fired. Nothing happened to me except I was threatened by my then ex-boss.

I'd do it again. It was the right thing to do.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. My husband worked for a factory doing

annodizing (sp??) of airplane parts. What this was was coating the parts with aluminum. Anyway, it involved highly toxic stuff-to neutralize it, they had to use the most caustic stuff available. He said when they dipped parts into the solution, the air turned psychodelic.

Anyway, his job was to neutralize stuff before it was put into the river, which was the main water supply for a large city. He worked the night shift. One night, after he tested the stuff before release, he realized it was still too acidic to be released and stopped the who process and was ready to start over. His boss told him to dump it anyway and he refused. When he went back on shift the next night, he saw that the tanks he had held back for reprossesing had been dumped-he quit on the spot and then informed the EPA and the local environmental offices. The company never retaliated against him-sadly, nothing happened to the company. This was one of the "red states" where business can do no wrong....

[LiberalHeart]

3. Thanks, both of you.

That helps with a decision that needs to be made.

[bigtree]

4. pretty tense, both times

we both took hits. I considered that a victory.

[Bjornsdotter]

5. I did it

I was in college working at an Osco Drug and I worked in the pharmacy and kept the store books with 3 other employees. Two of us noticed that the numbers were being crunched creatively and being changed by the store manager. So the 2 of us kept records for a month of the real books and the altered books. We tried to get the other 2 employees involved but they wanted no part of it....so the 2 of us called corporate and turned in the manager.

Long story short...we showed how the books were being altered, how easy it was for the manager to steal (he was also having pallets of diapers dropped at his house instead of the store), he was fired and the 2 of us were made so uncomfortable that we both quit within 6 months. Ironically the other 2 are still working at Osco 20 years later.

I don't regret it for a minute, I would do it again...oh and I NEVER shop at Osco as I know how they treat their employees.

Cheers

[TahitiNut]

6. "Career limiting" to say the least.

"Whistle-blower" protection statutes only purport to protect those who make a report to a regulatory or law enforcement authority. Companies 'encourage' employees to raise such issues internally first ("so we have an opportunity to correct any problems") but typically take such internal boat-rocking as a way of preemptively getting rid of a messenger. At that point, the so-called "whistle-blower" protection statutes are useless and any legal action must attempt to show "wrongful termination" to the degree such grounds exist in the state - and states vary tremendously in such cases. The (former) employer will have created a file on the employee, painted them as a performance problem, and wave the "employment at will" flag. The burden of proof becomes greater for the (former) employee ... usually at the same time they're seeking employment. Good fucking luck.

Would I do it again? Yes. I have to live with myself, no matter how I might otherwise live, or with whomever else.


My STRONG suggestions to any employee ...

(1) Keep a Job Journal! Buy your OWN spiral notebook and diligently write down everything of note that happens daily, including conversations and assignments. Keep it with you. Keep it up-to-date. Contemporaneous notes are persuasive evidence and the corporate attorneys KNOW this.

(2) Your first job, every day, every week, every year, is finding your NEXT job. Network and never burn bridges. Keep a Rolodex and cultivate interpersonal relationships. Send Christmas/Holiday cards! Call and chat. Keep contacts! Nurture them. Make sure you're "being the change you wish to see in the world" and smooth the way to employment for any of these people you can. Be a reference. Cast your employment bread on the waters.

(3) Keep a Pearl Harbor File - copies of memos, records, reports, etc. that betray business wrong-doing, even if you don't report it. Keep that file at home in a safe place. (They DO burglarize homes to get such things.)

(4) Don't fully trust anyone. That 'friendly' co-worker or 'understanding' manager is quite possibly obtaining information to be used against you, or information to prepare the comapny to protect itself. When you use them as referneces, they might bad-mouth you in ways that blow your mind - with lies and deceit. (That's EXACTLY what happened to me.)

(5) If you litigate, go for the maximum. Don't try to be "fair" or "reasonable." You have no idea how much further damage you'll have done to you.

[Skidmore]

7. I was a whistleblower and lost my job and my career.

I was blacklisted. My job was coordinating inhome services and group home case workers. During a change in organizational structure by the agency I was assigned to do feasibility studies to see how best to integrate across programs in various towns in this state. During the course of one of these studies, I was sent to look at a program belonging to an agency in another town and ther I discovered illegal billing activities, illegal contracts, lots of very bad treatment and ethical violations. I spoke with my immediate supervisor and we agreed immediately that this had to be stopped. Because we were responsible for these programs now, we were also liable personally. Well, this impacted the agency's bottom line. The people up the food chain were informed and apparently they were aware of this financial problems and had been winking at them for some time. My boss was fired and I was told directly that they were looking for a way to get rid of me. They marginalized me and moved me to a corner room in a basement. I came to work everyday and had almost nothing to do. I ended up resigning because I was so isolated, although I wish now that I had let them fire me. My boss sued for wrongful dismissal and won the largest judgment of this kind in this state. One month my boss had been honored as Employee of the Year with high praise and the next month fired and denigrated as the worst employee they had ever had. She had worked with this organization for 15 years. The trial lasted a week and I gave 2 days of testimony. It was one of the most stressful times in my life. Because we couldn't speak about things publicly until the trial, the rumor mill ground on. We were both blacklisted in our field and could not get new jobs locally. I went back to doing clerical and temp work until I worked up into research again. Mind you, we both have graduate degrees. Well, it took me 7 years to work back into a professional job.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat because it was so wrong for this stuff to have been happening. The organization was not only stealing, but the harm that was being done to the clients, all people who were directed to be in supervised living situtations, was criminal. It was better for these people to be sent to other programs than to be subjected to some of the practices I came across there. I have no regrets. I sleep well at night knowing I did what was right.

Just a note to anyone considering whistleblowing. 1) consult an attorney first (we did and were able to develop a game plan), 2) be prepared to be isolated and fired (the system will work to preserve itself) 3) document, document, document EVERYTHING, and 4) make certain you have a good support system outside of the workplace because this will take a heavy toll on you personally and on your family life.

[roguevalley]

8. my career ended. it makes you wonder how anyone can stand the

abuse. as bad as it was at my level of career, imagine those who have to put up with that and the scrutiny of the media.

[UTUSN]

9. The ranks closed, including the "impartial" hearing officers

They both isolate you while requiring that you put yourself in the old Catch 22: Bring up a list of witnesses or those who can corroborate your version. You put yourself on the line, but to ask OTHERS to do it FOR YOU, is not a moral position-----everybody else has their lives, families, economic circumstances to deal with. So in going up there ALONE, it is easy for THEM to write you off as a lone disgruntlee. The supposedly impartial civil rights investigator hangs fire for months, then finally says your case "is not in the cards." That phrase does, indeed, say it all------there are those breathtaking hands in a card game and those shittily finite hands. And in a very large organization, where the maze of procedures and policies can only be penetrated by years of first hand knowledge, it is nearly impossible to get outside representation, somebody who can grasp the technicalities-------and who is willing to take a case that is not likely to result in big $$$.

[benddem]

10. didn't work out at all

got the old army treatment for whistle blowers. The heave ho...and visits to the shrink.