Much has been written about the trials whistleblowers face, their general
situations, and the specifics of some cases.
My situation was unique in several
respects. HomeFirst’s nonprofit status
involved special issues of nonprofit accountability and nonprofit-government
relations. I was able to judge several
problems, rather than just one, and I dealt with numerous government agencies
charged with investigating the allegations.
My position in the company gave me access to information that would not
be available to most employees. Being
near the end of my career made the costs I paid less than those others suffer,
and it allowed me freedom to pursue my complaints and reflect on the issues
more than some others might be able to do.
Despite the uniqueness of my situation, lessons from my
experiences may be useful to others faced with the decision whether to disclose
a wrong within their organizations or to external authorities. When you consider what to do after you witness
a wrongdoing in your company, you can anticipate the following possibilities:
1.
Blowing the whistle will lead to your
termination. You may be fired, or the retaliations
you experience will make working in your job so uncomfortable that you may feel
forced to quit. If you are fired, the
reasons given will relate to your job performance, your attitude, your fit in
the organization, or anything else but your whistleblowing. Whatever the cause of your departure, you
will not be able to count on good references from your employer. Especially if your industry is tightly knit,
finding another job may be very difficult.
2.
As long as you remain in the company, you will
be retaliated against. Management will
not forget that you betrayed them.
Retaliations will come despite laws that prohibit them. The acts will appear in many different forms,
and no one will admit having committed them.
Some acts will be mildly irritating, others more painful, but some you
might not notice as retaliatory until days or weeks later.
3.
You will not be supported by people in the
organization whom you thought you could trust.
Your peers will become wary of you; some superiors may listen, but you
will find their allegiance is to those acting against you. Anyone who voices support will be overwhelmed
by critics and will yield to them. The
people closest to you among your family and friends will discourage you from
acting.
4.
Apparently robust systems to protect the
whistleblower – the policies, special corporate and board functionaries,
hotlines, and the rest – will not help you.
They exist to protect the company and its allies.
5.
No matter how much you work on your complaints,
gathering evidence, and setting down the story, none of that will matter.
6.
Your complaints will not be understood or
believed by others. Not by those in the
company, not by friends or family, and not by the authorities to whom you
complain. As a result, you may become
uncertain. The violation will become debatable
for you, too, and you will have doubts.
7.
The authorities charged with adjudicating your
complaint will ignore you, or they will support the company you accuse. They will consider the company more valuable
and more trustworthy than you. They will
accept the company’s word, its rendition of facts, and its proclaimed
intentions and plans, rather than the facts you present. The company will receive the benefit of doubt
even if you present conflicting facts.
8.
Nothing will be achieved by your complaints – no
correction of behavior, no punishment of the wrongdoer, and no fair
compensation for you. Your effort will
prove to have been a waste of time.
9.
If you engage an attorney, you will become
dissatisfied with the legal process.
Your attorney will run your case based on his or her business objectives, not on an admiration for your sacrifice. An
attorney who takes only plaintiffs as clients pursues a marketing strategy that
does not guarantee diligent, competent performance.
10.
If you settle with the company, you will be
required to be quiet and conceal everything about your case and the company;
you will not be able to disparage your former employer despite its unjust
behavior. Even if you do not settle, you
will be threatened with lawsuit if you describe the events in ways that the
company considers disparaging. If
official indifference has not succeeded in silencing you, then fear may.
11.
Others will soon lose interest in your problems
– your complaints, the retaliation, your legal case, and the costs you have
paid. You will be urged directly or
indirectly to move on, to get on with your life. They will believe that there are two sides to
the story, and they will not be in a position to judge the accuracy of yours.
12.
You will not be a hero in the mind of anyone at
the end of it all. People will not
consider the wrong you disclosed as especially significant compared to problems
in their lives and in the world. If numerous
complaints indicate a systemic problem in the company, adjudicators will see
them as distinct complaints and will not consider them in combination. The wrong you describe will be too ambiguous,
your motivations too mixed, the social or moral good you seek too dubious. Others will find redeeming qualities in those
you complain about. You will be
considered foolish for suffering as you did.
People will see other actions that you should have done instead,
including simply resigning.
13.
Everything that happens, you will find unfair.
14.
You will become cynical in ways you were not
previously – about the company, the work you did there, your previous
dedication, your former colleagues, the people who refused to believe you, and the
industry and career you once valued. All
of it will turn your stomach.
15.
Despite all of the problems that you will face
and the penalties you will pay, you must become a whistleblower.
You will not be able to protest every wrong you witness because the
consequences would be severe. You must,
after all, care for yourself and your family.
There will be many, many occasions on which you see wrongs and
remain silent, and they will weigh on you, more and more over time. But be wary: life is short and unpredictable;
if you fail to stand on an occasion, another opportunity to recover may not
come to you. Not objecting to wrong is a
failure of heart. It is a display of
cowardice that may be understandable and even tolerated, but it creates a hole
that you must eventually fill.
Best wishes and good luck on your own adventures!
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