“It was a choiceless choice,” claimed Janet Chandler last Thursday night in a special discussion panel put together by GAP (Government Accountability Project) and Georgetown Law. Her choice was to blow the whistle.
Janet was one of three famous whistleblowers on the panel Thursday night discussing their stories and promoting the new book, The Corporate Whistleblower’s Survival Guide by Dylan Blaylock. Whistleblower Larry King, who blew the whistle while project manager for the cleanup at the infamous Three Mile Island nuclear power plant meltdown said he wished there was a comprehensive guide around like this when he chose to blow the whistle. Larry’s efforts uncovering reckless cleanup practices may have helped avoid another huge disaster and saved lives. He had no idea what would happen to him and his family, and not only did he lose his job, but his house as well. He also spent time in the hospital battling bouts of depression. He claimed if he had to do it all over again he would, knowing the dangers that can occur in his line of work. Although he said he would have remained anonymous, had he known it was an option. When asked why he did it, knowing some of the consequences, he exclaimed, “At the end of the day, you have to be able to stand yourself.”
Janet took her case all the way to a Supreme Court victory on a False Claims Act lawsuit against a hospital she was working with. (whistleblowers.org). She was working with federal funds granted to the hospital for supporting mothers and children suffering from drug addictions. The money granted was not allocated correctly, while the hospital was forging data and failing to comply with regulations. She said she was not prepared for the consequences which followed her blowing the whistle. She struggled for years as a single mother during the litigation process which took over 12 years.
Finally, Wendell Potter shared his story as a former VP for Corporate Communications with CIGNA, one of the U.S.’s largest health insurance companies. He spoke out about the deceitful tactics used in the private health care industry leading to more Americans without insurance protection. He also discussed the questionable uses of public relations budgets used to deceive the public, and engage in advertising and lobbying efforts to defeat reform initiatives in congress. (wendellpotter.org). Potter even wrote a book, The Deadly Spin, to detail what he experienced and how the company was deceiving Americans. Wendell took full advantage of his situation by turning it into a career. He now works with and provides education to members of Congress about what the private health insurance industry is really like.
Wendell said if he had not blown the whistle, he would not have gotten the wonderful opportunity to educate people on what the industry is really like. Similarly, Janet has participated in mentoring programs to educate and get the word out about whistleblowing. All of them agree that it was something they had to do to help others. They encourage people in their situations to speak out and use resources like the new book out to help them through these tough situations. Whistleblowers provide the missing link in exposing bad corporate practices.
We can only hope more brave souls will come forward like these three individuals and help ride corporate deviance and illegal practices.
About the Author: Jesci Drake is a current law student and intern with Workplace Fairness.
