Just like the whistleblowers at the VA are doing.
JB: What fallout do whistleblowers suffer for acting on their principles?
DS: The price patriotic whistleblowers pay is incredible. There are ancient taboos against tattling. Companies exploit this to isolate patriotic whistleblowers. No; the guys in the white hats don't always win.
My wife and I have published a comprehensive list of retaliation. You can look at our statistics at: file:///Users/donsoeken/Documents/Soeken.pdf by Don and Karen Soeken.
What did our statistics show?
Whistleblowers are not misfits. The average whistleblower is a 47-year-old family man employed seven years before exposing wrongdoing. Most were driven by conscience. And virtually all would do it again.
The whistleblowers are ethical and half were religious. They tended to assume that the best could be achieved by following universal moral codes, which guided their judgments.
Whistleblowers put their jobs on the line to protect the public. One out of every five of those in the survey reported they were without a job, and 25 percent mentioned increased financial burdens on the family as the most negative result of their action.
Whistleblower families suffer tremendously. My wife and I got replies on the survey like "People made fun of me" or "People who I thought were my best friends stopped associating with me".
Despite hardship, whistleblowers would do it again. A truck driver said: ''I went through hell emotionally. The insults from management and fellow workers were extreme. It made me a colder, callused person, and yes, I would do it again.''
Effects are long lasting. A government worker said, ''Don't do it unless you're willing to spend many years, ruin your career and sacrifice your personal life.''
Whistleblowers find that doing right is its own reward. An engineer in private industry put it more positively: ''Do what is right. Lost income can be replaced. Lost self-esteem is more difficult to retrieve.'' Another federal employee confided, ''Finding honesty within myself was more powerful than I expected".
Eighty percent reported physical deterioration, with loss of sleep and added weight as the most common symptoms. Eighty-six percent reported negative emotional consequences, including feelings of depression, powerlessness, isolation, anxiety and anger.
There are seven stages of life for the whistleblower: discovery of the abuse; reflection on what action to take; confrontation with superiors; retaliation; the long haul of legal or other action involved; termination of the case, and going on to a new life.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
1
1
