Comprehensive Guide Written by GAP Staff; Thursday Online Event Showcases Book’s Use and Urgent Need
(Washington, D.C.) – The Government Accountability Project (GAP) is proud to announce the release of the single most comprehensive publication ever created about corporate whistleblowing, The Corporate Whistleblower’s Survival Guide: A Handbook for Committing the Truth. Published by Berrett-Koehler, this step-by-step guide details key information that potential business whistleblowers should know before, during, and after blowing the whistle. GAP Legal Director Tom Devine and former GAP investigator Tarek F. Maassarani authored the book, and are speaking at an event this Thursday with notable whistleblowers (details below). The book summarizes a decade-long under-the-radar legal revolution in corporate worker free speech rights.
Praise for the book has been overwhelming. The Corporate Whistleblower’s Survival Guide is filled with essential tips for navigating every step of the whistleblowing process — from detailing what individuals should do if they are simply considering taking action to expose wrongdoing, to navigating the storm of retaliation that inevitably follows.
Drawing upon their years of direct experience, Devine and Maassarani catalog everything that novice whistleblowers need to know. Topics include: introducing employees to their (new) rights, with references to continuing legal education for their counsel; the legal campaign strategy that is essential to supplement lawsuits; key survival tips; typical retaliatory tactics; benefits for corporate leaders wise enough to listen to their messengers instead of silencing them; “ground rules” for effective partnerships between whistleblowers and citizen activists, politicians and the media; and available resources and help groups, just to name a few. The Corporate Whistleblower’s Survival Guide enables readers to bring vital information to light while keeping their sanity, relationships, and careers intact.
More on the book is available here.
Thursday Event
This Thursday evening, April 21, GAP and Georgetown University’s Law School will be hosting an online event featuring a discussion between the authors and noted whistleblowers whose disclosures play an important role in current pivotal issues. Specifically the whistleblowers are from the nuclear and health care industries — hot-button topics over the last several months. Wendell Potter, the noted health insurance company whistleblower who authored Deadly Spin, is among those participating. Additionally, Dr. Janet Chandler, who earned a Supreme Court landmark victory against hospital fraud with help from her then-lawyer Barack Obama, will share her marathon ordeal. Also speaking will be Larry King, who was Project Manager for the Three Mile Island cleanup. His whistleblowing on reckless cleanup practices prevented a likely meltdown after the accident. His lessons learned could not be timelier after the tragedy in Japan.
This online event should last for a little less than an hour. The event can be watched live, starting at 5:15 p.m. EDT this Thursday, April 21 at: http://www.law.georgetown.edu/webcast/eventDetail.cfm?eventID=1392
Call-in questions will be taken from around the country. To call in to the event, dial 1-888-757-2790 (password: 871514).
The event is open to the public, but space is very limited. To reserve a spot, please contact GAP Communications Dylan Blaylock at [email protected]. It will be held at the second floor of Georgetown University of Law’s Hotung International Law Building, Room 2000, 550 First St. NW, in Washington DC. A map is available at
Praise & Recommendations
Many high-profile whistleblowers and good government advocates have reviewed the book and hailed its importance for truth-tellers everywhere, including:
“The Corporate Whistleblower’s Survival Guide contains the Government Accountability Project’s combined lessons learned over three decades of working with thousands of Persons of Conscience. Read it if you are an employee even thinking about becoming such a Person. Read it if you are an organizational leader wise enough to listen to messengers instead of silencing them. Anyone should read it to understand what it means to challenge abuses of power and what we risk when corporate secrecy and intimidation prevail.”
–Dr. Jeffrey Wigand, corporate tobacco whistleblower and subject of Oscar
winning movie The Insider.
“The Corporate Whistleblower’s Survival Guide will be an immense help! For while there is no one-size-fits-all ‘right answers,’ the authors have effectively translated their decades of actual experience, insights, and resources in this field onto paper…”
— Coleen Rowley, FBI 9/11 Whsitleblower and a 2002 Time Person of the Year
“…As commissioner, I relied on whistleblowers like Jeffrey Wigand to learn the inside story about the deceptive practices of the tobacco industry. Later I became a whistleblower … The Corporate Whistleblower’s Survival Guide draws on GAP’s vast experience to capture what happens when someone blows the whistle, and it distills it in plain English. I highly recommend it.”
–Dr. David Kessler, former Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration
“…Through guidance on making a decision, bringing the right information to the right people, and dealing with the media constructively, as well as explaining critical rights and limitations, Devine and Maassarani have created a guidebook that can make that difference — not just for whistleblowers but also for all of us that benefit from their actions.”
— Susan Wood, former Director, Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Women’s Health, who resigned to protest politically motivated delays in approving the Plan B “morning after” pill.
“Blowing the whistle is a life-altering experience. Taking the first step is the hardest, knowing that you can never turn back … This handbook is required reading for anyone considering blowing the whistle.”
— Richard and Donna Parks, Three Mile Island cleanup whistleblower and wife
“My only hope is that we can spread the word so that all potential corporate whistleblowers read this before they take their first steps down that lonely road.”
–Danielle Brian, Executive Director, Project on Government Oversight
Since 1977, GAP has helped over 5,000 people take on organizations like AIG, the Bechtel Corporation, the World Bank, Procter & Gamble, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals — and win.
About the Authors
Tom Devine has worked at GAP since January 1979. Mr. Devine has assisted thousands of whistleblowers in coming forward, making a difference, and defending themselves against retaliation. He has been a leader in the campaigns to pass or defend 20 major national or international whistleblower laws, including every national one enacted over the last two decades. He has authored or co-authored numerous books, law review articles, and newspaper op-eds, and is a frequent expert commentator on television and radio talk shows. Mr. Devine is the recipient of the “Hugh Hefner First Amendment Award” and the “Defender of the Constitution Award” bestowed by the Fund for Constitutional Government. In 2006 he was inducted into the Freedom of Information Act Hall of Fame.
Tarek Maassarani is a practicing attorney and a former investigator with the Government Accountability Project. He is an adjunct professor at George Washington University, teaching in the areas of nonviolent communication and human rights.
Contact: Tom Devine, Legal Director
Phone: 202.457.0034, ext. 124
Email: [email protected]
Contact: Dylan Blaylock, Communications Director
Phone: 202.457.0034, ext. 137
Email: [email protected]
Government Accountability Project
The Government Accountability Project is the nation’s leading whistleblower protection organization. Through litigating whistleblower cases, publicizing concerns and developing legal reforms, GAP’s mission is to protect the public interest by promoting government and corporate accountability. Founded in 1977, GAP is a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.
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