The Guardian: Whistleblowers’ Claims of Wrongdoing Being Ignored
An analysis of whistleblower cases in the UK has found that three out of four whistleblowers who raise concern at work have their complaints ignored. Further, one out of six eventually lost their job for speaking up, with many more experiencing other forms of retaliation. The findings are based on a report from GAP coalition partner Public Concern at Work (PCaW), drawing from 1,000 case files of workers who approached a whistleblower helpline operated between August 2009 and December 2010. PCaW says that whistleblower protection legislation in the UK needs to be reviewed, and some amendments have already been put forward.
The Chattanoogan: Haslam Vetoes “Ag Gag” Bill
Yesterday, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam vetoed the state’s anti-whistleblower Ag Gag bill, stating a number of concerns he has with the legislation, including that it “actually makes it more difficult to prosecute animal cruelty cases.” The veto comes days after the state attorney general called the bill “constitutionally suspect.”
The Wall Street Journal: Tax Court Judge Slams IRS Over Whistleblower Case
The recent re-opening of the investigation into whistleblower claims by the IRS has led a US Tax Court judge and attorneys to berate the agency for inefficiently handling cases. According to the court, after the IRS Whistleblower Office denied the claim, another IRS branch re-opened an investigation into the company named by the whistleblowers while failing to inform the tax court overseeing the case. One attorney was not surprised, saying that there is a ‘constant thread’ of anti-whistleblower bias throughout the decisions made by the IRS.
The controversial ‘Stop-and-Frisk’ trials involving the New York Police Department continued on Monday with the testimony of a Deputy Inspector who has been accused of enforcing discriminatory police behavior on subordinate officials. The policy, which leaves to officers’ discretion the questioning of possible suspects on the street and is meant to reduce crime, has disproportionately targeted African-Americans and Hispanics in the five million stops made in the last decade. One of the police officer whistleblowers in the case secretly recorded his conversation with the Deputy Inspector over the officer’s low number of street stops.
Wake Up Call: US Government Targets Journalists, Happened to Me in 2003, Risen in 2006, AP in 2013
GAP National Security & Human Rights Director Jesselyn Radack responds to the recent intrusion by the Justice Department into the phone records of AP journalists’ personal and work phones.
Antiwar.com: Robert Greenwald’s Brave New Film
Robert Greenwald’s documentary War on Whistleblowers, which premiered last month, profiles the cases of four national security whistleblowers and includes insight from various journalists, whistleblowers, and whistleblower advocates. Included in the film are GAP clients Tom Drake and Franz Gayl as well as GAP Legal Director Tom Devine and GAP National Security & Human Rights Director Jesselyn Radack. This article includes a behind-the-scenes interview with Greenwald.
Key Quote: “The Obama administration’s dogged pursuit of more whistleblowers – especially in light of the lack of accountability for other far worse offenses like torture and warrantless domestic spying – as well as the government’s own rampant leaking, has definitely united the open government/First Amendment community,” said [GAP National Security & Human Rights Director] Jesselyn Radack, a whistleblower herself…
Jack Davis is Communications Associate for the Government Accountability Project, the nation’s leadingwhistleblower protection and advocacy organization.