Courtesy of Flickr user db Photography | Demi-BrookeHuffington Post: New HSUS Investigation Reveals Deception by Online Puppy Seller
Summary: According to a new investigation by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), internet puppy seller Purebred Breeders sells animals from puppy mills (inhumane commercial breeding facilities) and uses deceptive sales tactics.
A whistleblower who contacted HSUS said that Purebred Breeders sells more than 20,000 puppies a year. This internet company has had complaints of sick and dying puppies arriving by air, some covered in feces and urine. The whistleblower also revealed that employees are instructed to talk “as if they know the puppies and the breeders personally.”
Whole Foods Runs Foul of Whistleblower Law?
Summary: Whole Foods violated federal whistleblower protections, according to an OSHA investigation, when it allegedly fired an employee for reporting concerns regarding a sewage spill into the chain's Miami Beach store. GAP's Food Integrity Campaign has the details.
Kalamazoo Gazette (MI): Judge to Hear Whistleblower Lawsuit of Kalamazoo River Oil Spill Worker
Summary: Next week a Michigan judge will hear the case of a former oil spill cleanup worker who says he was fired after revealing to the media, and state and federal agencies, that workers were told to cover up the oil instead of cleaning it up.
Federal Times: Bill Extends Whistleblower Protections to Contractors
Summary: More coverage of Tuesday's Senate subcommittee hearing about the Non-Federal Employee Whistleblower Protection Act (S. 241), which would extend federal whistleblower protection to government contractors who reveal improper use of federal money or unethical behavior.
Related Article: Federal News Radio
Quad-City Times (IA/IL): Clinton Residents Form Group to Seek Meeting Minutes
Summary: Residents of Clinton, IA are working with the ACLU in an effort to gain access to the minutes of closed city council meetings. The meetings in question covered the city’s $4.5 million settlement of a whistleblower lawsuit brought by a former firefighter, alleging that the fire department had incorrectly billed Medicare and Medicaid for high reimbursement rates.
Summary: An Oregon county jury cleared the Portland Public Schools of wrongdoing yesterday in the case brought by a former special education principal who alleged that she was demoted after raising concerns about student and staff safety. The jury decided that while what the school system made some bad decisions, the reporting of safety concerns was not a key factor in the demotion.
Hannah Johnson is Communications Associate for the Government Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.
