The Record (N.J.): Fired Employee Files Whistleblower Lawsuit Against Trader Joe’s
A former Trader Joe’s employee is claiming that he was fired after telling “supervisors about unsafe and unsanitary conditions” including rodent droppings and faulty cooling equipment. A 23-year Navy veteran, the employee worked at a franchise store in Teaneck, New Jersey, and is suing under that state’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act.
Associated Press: Ex-Learning Specialist Files Lawsuit Against North Carolina
More coverage of University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) whistleblower Mary Willingham’s filing of a lawsuit against the school earlier this week. The lawsuit alleges that she was subjected to a hostile work environment after voicing academic misconduct. Because of her disclosures, it was first revealed in 2011 that UNC-CH student athletes were able to stay academically eligible by taking “paper classes” which never met and often required a single paper (possibly plagiarized).
Key Quote: A whistleblower advocacy group, the Government Accountability Project, has sent letters to school chancellor Carol Folt and system president Thomas W. Ross in recent months questioning whether Willingham was mistreated or harassed. That included criticism from school provost James W. Dean Jr., after Willingham told CNN in January that the majority of football and basketball players she researched from 2004-12 read at below-grade levels.
Related Articles: CBS Sports, Bloomberg Businessweek
Federal Soup: Heads of VA, OSC Discuss Whistleblower Protection
The head of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) and the Acting Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs recently met “to lay the groundwork for ensuring whistleblowers at the department are encouraged to speak up and are protected from retaliation.” The meeting between OSC’s Carolyn Lerner and the VA’s Sloan Gibson came in the wake of a “blistering” letter Lerner sent to President Obama last week regarding how the department has failed to adequately investigate whistleblower concerns over the delayed care of patients.
In other news related to the ongoing scandal, the head of the department’s medical investigation unit has stepped down.
Dylan Blaylock is Communications Director for the Government Accountability Project, the nation’s leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.