All Things Whistleblower: A GAP Blog

In The News

Rick Piltz, director of Climate Science Watch, a GAP program, explains in this article how the combination of politics and the effects of Bush−era climate change denial are keeping the US from developing a concrete climate policy, and how the American climate policy debate treats global climate change as solely a domestic issue.

Fourteen states and the District of Columbia sued a biotechnology firm and other drug suppliers over a scheme that paid doctors to sell their anemia drug. The suits were brought after a whistleblower claim was made in 2006 against the firm for illegal marketing practices. The suit alleges the firm provided kickbacks to doctors — such as sham consultancy agreements and posh weekend retreats — to induce them to purchase and prescribe the drug.

The climate-change bill that has been moving through the Senate is facing heavy criticism and daunting hurdles from Republicans and Democrats alike. With Democrats deeply divided on the issue, the bill is unlikely to pass unless some Republican lawmakers break with their party and support the legislation.

FAA Whistleblower: “They don’t want you to be part of the solution; they want you to go away.”

After 25 years at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, an air-traffic controller who blew the whistle on Federal Aviation Administration misconduct is quitting.

Anne Whiteman started reporting problems 12 years ago at the airport - including an incident in which two planes came within 300 feet of each other - and has suffered continual harassment since, including physical assault, isolation, and even a death threat.

Twice her claims were substantiated by Office of Special Council investigations (OSC), but the harassment only increased to include claims of drug abuse, not showing up to work on time, and fraud. The OSC is the federal agency charged with protecting federal employee whistleblowers.

Whiteman even emailed new FAA director Randy Babbit in May of this year, shortly after his appointment. He did not respond.

Saying that the FAA finally won, Whiteman resigned last week. She had been offered a new position, only to have the opportunity withdrawn. Whiteman now believes that there is no accountability at FAA, and that “they don’t want you to be part of the solution; the want you to go away.”

The FAA responded in a statement that they are reaching out to whistleblowers.

WWYW Episode 13 - Obama's Signing Statement on Whistleblowers; Protecting Patients from Faulty Medical Devices

This is the page to leave comments about Episode 13 of Whistle Where You Work, GAP’s television program. To view the show online, visit www.whistleblowertv.org. Here’s a description of the program:

In March, President Obama signed a $410 billion omnibus spending bill, but in so doing, he attached a signing statement asserting that certain provisions of the legislation raised constitutional concerns that Congress was stepping on Executive powers. Specifically, the president stated he was not waiving his authority to control communications by federal employees to Congress involving information that is properly privileged or otherwise confidential. What are the ramifications of this statement for federal employee whistleblowers who wish to take concerns to Congress? Guests include Sharon Bradford Franklin of The Constitution Project and Tom Devine, Government Accountability Project

Then, we sit down with Lisa Hayes of Alliance for Justice, who is fighting for legislation that would allow patients injured by medical devices to sue the manufactures of such faulty products. If patients harmed by prescription drugs have legal recourse against manufacturers, why shouldn’t medical device producers be held accountable too?

This program was filmed in late April 2009.

In the News Today

There is a whistleblower case involving a nurse in England that is receiving front-page coverage in that country. This BBC piece briefly discusses the concept and practice of whistleblowing, and lists prominent international whistleblowers from years past.

The AP is reporting that government officials are investigating whether an employee of a military contractor – a company charged with safeguarding a US base in Iraq – was fired after reporting security lapses to American authorities. Richard Lardner, a really solid reporter, wrote the piece.

And a financial publication called “The Street” reports that the new Chairwoman of the SEC has stated that the department may start paying whistleblowers in an effort to provide incentives to employees to report any witnessed corruption.

-- Dylan Blaylock

Problems in the Seattle & D.C. Fire Departments

There is a whistleblower-retaliation dispute going on within the Seattle Fire Department. This most recent Seattle Times article details how that city’s mayor hired a private lawyer to investigate the claims that a worker was demoted after reporting departmental wrongdoing. 

Perhaps there is a trend going on with whistleblowers reporting wrongdoing in major cities’ fire departments. GAP is currently representing a Washington, D.C. fire department whistleblower who has been the victim of ongoing, unjust retaliation for her actions at last year’s Mt. Pleasant fire (which she was ordered to do). There are other cases of whistleblowing at the DC Fire Department as well.

-- Dylan Blaylock

GAP Client on Quest to Find Root of Overeating

This is a fascinating Washington Post article about former FDA commissioner David Kessler who, in a new book, is claiming that certain types of high-fat, sugar, or salty foods can effectively alter brain chemistry, resulting in an obsessive desire to overeat. 

The piece also mentions how Kessler was fired from his position as Dean of the Medical School at the University of California at San Francisco, for blowing the whistle on financial wrongdoing. GAP is acting as co-counsel for Kessler regarding this claim. From the WP:

“My weight was yo-yoing all the time,” said Kessler, who estimates that 70 million Americans struggle with conditioned hyper-eating. “And I never understood why.”

He embarked on a mission to figure it out while serving as dean of the medical school at Yale University and later the University of California at San Francisco. UCSF fired Kessler from his position as dean in December after he alleged financial malfeasance at the institution. The university maintains there were no financial misdeeds; Kessler says he was forced out because he blew the whistle. He remains on the faculty at the medical school and lives in San Francisco with his wife, Paulette, a lawyer. They have two grown children, both of whom live in Washington.

-- Dylan Blaylock

News Roundup: Water Pollution, DoJ Prosecutions; Smear Attacks on a Whistleblower; State Food Safety Agencies

There was a fantastic piece from Frontline, the renown PBS television series, airing last night that chronicled the problems of water pollution and contamination (both wild and drinking), with a focus on Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, Washington state’s Puget Sound, and the Washington D.C. area’s drinking water. The piece analyzes several problems and sources of water pollution, including the massive waste attributable to factory farms, excessive buildup of household chemicals being washed down drains at residential houses, and urban sprawl. You can watch the episode online at the link above.  

Of course, the big news from yesterday was that in a reversing of course, President Obama indicated that he would not be opposed to creating a bipartisan commission that would investigate the Bush administration’s use of torture, nor did he rule out prosecution against the torture memos’ drafters. The statements by Obama are in stark contrast to previously ones indicating his desire to “move forward,” and directly contrast statements made on Sunday by Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

A recent episode of GAP’s television program Whistle Where You Work focused on the issues surrounding the release of the key “torture memos” drafted by the DoJ Office of Legal Counsel, and the future of the DoJ (under Obama) in general. You can view that episode by clicking here.

From Georgia (and the AP), in what is being labeled (and looks like) a smear campaign, lawyers for the sugar company whose plant exploded last year, killing 14 workers, are attacking a whistleblower who claims he sent a report of hazardous plant conditions to managers just weeks before the explosion.

Lastly, an excellent New York Times story from Monday really should be mentioned. It exquisitely details how most state food safety agencies are simply sub-par, and are grossly inadequate at protecting public health. From the article, regarding the recent peanut outbreak:

Forty-two Minnesotans were reported sick compared with three Kentuckians. Jalapeño peppers last year? Thirty-one in Minnesota and two in Kentucky became ill. The different numbers arise because health officials in Kentucky and many other states fail to investigate many complaints of food-related sickness while those in Minnesota do so diligently, safeguarding not only Minnesotans but much of the rest of the country, as well.  

A recent episode of GAP’s television program Whistle Where You Work focused on the problems of the federal food safety system. You can view that episode by clicking here.

-- Dylan Blaylock