New York Times: Support Protections for Whistleblowers
Noted attorney Jordan Thomas of Labaton Sucharow argues in this piece that the best way to hold financial corporations and executives accountable is to ensure that whistleblowers are protected. Many financial institutions require employees to sign non-disclosure agreements that potentially run afoul of whistleblower laws. Thomas and Labaton recently joined GAP in petitioning the SEC on a rulemaking change, in part challenging this practice.
Key Quote: The right to report malfeasance should be an unwaivable right in a democratic state; obstruction of that right is cartel-like conduct. With the Government Accountability Project, I have petitioned the S.E.C. to clarify its rules to guard against corporate attempts to silence, retaliate against or otherwise bully whistle-blowers.
Straightforward policymaking that encourages reports of misconduct, sets forth protocols for internal reporting, and establishes a zero-tolerance policy for retaliation is vital to repairing the integrity of our system.
Huffington Post: Who’s Next as the Top Cop at the Global Fund?
GAP Executive Director Bea Edwards penned this column about how, during the past three years, three Inspectors General at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria have stepped down. Edwards points out that the turnover of this key position, which is the senior oversight official within the organization, should be an alarm to taxpayers because Congress appropriates more than $1 billion annually for the organization.
Key Quote: Here at the Government Accountability Project, where we work with whistleblowers, when we see this phenomenon, we know the deal. High turnover in the ethics office or the investigation unit — particularly at the top — means the people responsible for anti-corruption measures at the organization are in an impossible position. They are the window dressing of accountability that management was forced to adopt as a matter of political expediency. After signing on, however, they find they’re not actually supposed to deliver. They then shut down and devote themselves to ethics webinars and travel. Or, if they decide to really do their jobs anyway, they’re dismissed, as Parsons was.
Government Executive: IGs Should Do a Better Job of Helping Whistleblowers
GAP coalition partner POGO (Project on Government Oversight) has found that the Homeland Security Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Railroad Retirement Board are not adequately providing information about whistleblower programs on their websites. This information emerged from a POGO-conducted survey of 72 different websites of inspectors general.
Wall Street Journal: Survey – People Don’t Want to Talk Online About the NSA
A Pew Research Center survey has found that more than half of respondents would be more willing to talk about the NSA and GAP client and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in person rather than to post about the agency or whistleblower online.
Business Insider: Dartmouth Fraternity Whistleblower Describes a Traumatic Night As a Pledge
A former pledge of a fraternity at Dartmouth College has come forward with allegations of hazing involving “date rape, drugs” and other disgusting behavior.
Michael Riley is a Communications Intern for the Government Accountability Project, the nation’s leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.