FBI whistleblower Michael German writes in today’s Washington Post about flaws in the system designed to protect intelligence community whistleblowers.
The intelligence agencies successfully lobbied for exemptions from whistleblower protections by arguing that these complicated reporting processes are necessary to protect classified information. But this is wrong on two counts. First, intelligence community whistleblowers and
It has somehow become sort of normal to use the workplace to protest social issues unrelated to the job itself. This was something almost unheard of even five years ago.
The latest example came on Sept. 20 as more than 1,000 Amazon employees staged a walkout over the retailer’s “inaction” on climate change. In recent months, there has also been unrest among Walmart employees over gun sales and protests by Google and Microsoft workers over military use of their software. And of course, there’s Colin Kaepernick and other professional athletes who used the field – a football player’s office – to protest racialized police violence.
The workplace used to be the very last place you would want to bring attention to social issues, however important. That’s because the office or factory isn’t a democracy where activism is protected. To a workplace scholar like me, what’s really interesting is how employees are increasingly willing to undertake this risky form of protest – and how employers are adapting.
Continue Reading Why whistleblower laws won’t protect employees who use the workplace for activism
A guest post from Dean Zerbe, senior policy analyst for the National Whistleblower Center and former tax counsel for the Senate Finance Committee.
Tax whistleblowers had good news the other day with the Taxpayer First Act of 2019 (Public Law 116-25) being signed into law – including anti-retaliation protections for tax whistleblowers as well
It’s Time for Facebook to be Sanctioned for Misleading Shareholders and the Public About Terror and Hate Speech on its Website
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) now has all the information it needs to sanction Facebook for its dishonesty about terror and hate content on its website, thanks to a petition filed by a whistleblower working with the National Whistleblower Center (NWC). Today, the Associated Press published an explosive story describing and confirming the key findings in the petition.
Continue Reading NWC’s Whistleblower Files Petition To Sanction Facebook For Terror and Hate Content
They say that sunlight is the best disinfectant. When information about corruption or other wrongdoing comes to light, that transparency results in accountability, both against those who are culpable and for those affected by it. Whistleblowers are the ones with that crucial information.
Whistleblowers are people who bravely come forward with information about fraud, corruption, and other criminal behavior. A whistleblower may be anyone from an employee at a company who comes across fraud to a government employee who sees the law being disregarded and rights trampled to a member of an impacted community whose family is affected by environmental catastrophe because of negligence in the race for profit.
Despite enormous personal and professional risks, they bring to light what would otherwise remain hidden. Often, those who blow the whistle on wrongdoing are disparaged and retaliated against for their actions. Even still, they report such crime knowing they may lose their jobs and income, only to face a negative social stigma while fighting an uphill battle. For the sake of truth and transparency, they are willing to come forward, to step up, and to disclose what they know.
But at present our society does not honor whistleblowers, and because of that we don’t encourage them to step forward.
Continue Reading We Need To Change the Way We Talk About Whistleblowers
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On January 30, 2019, Reps. Don Young (R-AK) and John Garamendi (D-CA) introduced the Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act of 2019 (H.R. 864). This bipartisan, groundbreaking legislation enhances the ability of informants worldwide to detect and report wildlife crimes. It also strengthens the laws criminalizing trafficking.
In a joint press release, both representatives recognized the importance of halting poachers, traffickers, and transnational criminal organizations—all of which are responsible for exacerbating the global extinction crisis. Furthermore, as Congressman Garamendi points out, “Our bipartisan bill advances American leadership in tackling the global wildlife trafficking and poaching crisis at no cost to the American taxpayer.”
Continue Reading Landmark Bill Combating Wildlife Trafficking Reintroduced in the House
Originally published at Corporate Compliance Insights on November 19, 2018 by Guest Columnist Donna Boehme.
Donna Boehme, the “Lion of Compliance,” comments on Novartis as a new “rock star” on the corporate compliance landscape, observing that the company has elevated its approach to compliance, culture and trust to best practice “Compliance 2.0” status – first, with its 2014 appointment of an independent and empowered CECO with true compliance SME (earned in the field) and now, with the elevation of the role to include all management risk functions and with a seat on the executive management team. She also notes as best practice the company’s establishment of a new bonus system that links bonuses to ethical leadership behavior, a feature many leading companies have yet to achieve.
Continue Reading Pharma Giant Graduates to Compliance 2.0
The International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE) was formed in 1989 by the United States’ Environmental Protection Agency and the Netherlands’ Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment on the need for greater collaboration between environmental compliance and enforcement actors globally. To date, it remains the only global organization focused exclusively on improving compliance with environmental law through effective compliance promotion and enforcement at all levels of governance. By partnering with the National Whistleblower Center, INECE hopes to help address the relationship between environmental crime, economic growth, and national security.
Continue Reading Knowledge exchange at the forefront of environmental law enforcement
Today is GivingTuesday– a global day of giving that harnesses the collective power of individuals, communities and organizations worldwide to encourage people to donate to the causes close to their heart. The National Whistleblower Center, the nation’s leading whistleblower advocacy organization, has a 30-year history of fighting corruption. The NWC announced its 2018 GivingTuesday campaign by sharing a few highlights from the year.
Continue Reading On GivingTuesday Help the National Whistleblower Center Fight Corruption
Whistleblowers are our last line of defense to protect our oceans. As the “Our Ocean Conference 2018” (OOC 2018) is set to open tomorrow in Bali, Indonesia, the National Whistleblower Center (NWC) hopes to bring awareness about the important role whistleblowers can play in the detection of illegal fishing and marine pollution.
Continue Reading Calling on Whistleblowers to Help Protect Our Oceans