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Protecting Whistleblowers Researcher Published by CQ Press, a division of Congressional Quarterly Inc. CQ www.cqresearcher.com Protecting Whistleblowers Do employees who speak out need better protection? rom prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison to fraud at Enron, some of the most dramatic revelations of cor- porate and government wrongdoing have come from insiders. The Whistleblower Protection Act and other Flaws are designed to shield employees who reveal wrongdoing from retaliation by vengeful bosses. But federal employees who claim they were harassed after blowing the whistle lose their cases Bunnatine H. Greenhouse, a U.S. Army Corps of far more often than they win. They lose so often, in fact, that Engineers contracts supervisor, was demoted in 2005 after challenging Iraq war contracts awarded to a subsidiary of the Halliburton Co. some whistleblower advocates urge potential whistleblowers to become anonymous sources for reporters instead. National-security I employees are in an especially delicate position, because what N THIS REPORT S they want to disclose may involve secret information. Several THE ISSUES ......................267 I bills now before Congress aim to strengthen protections for BACKGROUND ..................274 D whistleblowers, including those in intelligence agencies. CHRONOLOGY ..................275 E AT ISSUE ..........................281 CQ Researcher • March 31, 2006 • www.cqresearcher.com CURRENT SITUATION ..........282 Volume 16, Number 12 • Pages 265-288 OUTLOOK ........................283 RECIPIENT OF SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS AWARD FOR BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................286 EXCELLENCE N AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION SILVER GAVEL AWARD THE NEXT STEP ................287 PROTECTING WHISTLEBLOWERS CQ Researcher March 31, 2006 THE ISSUES SIDEBARS AND GRAPHICS Volume 16, Number 12 • Are federal whistleblow- Whistleblower Suits MANAGING EDITOR: Thomas J. Colin 267 ers adequately protected? 268 Recovered $9.6 Billion • Is the Bush administration More than 5,100 suits were ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR: Kathy Koch hostile to whistleblowers? filed since 1986. ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Kenneth Jost • Should civil servants leak Before You Blow the Whistle STAFF WRITERS: Marcia Clemmitt, Peter Katel, information to reporters in- 269 Whistleblower advocates offer Pamela M. Prah stead of whistleblowing? 10 suggestions. CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Rachel Cox, Sarah Glazer, David Hosansky, BACKGROUND Backlog of Whistleblower Patrick Marshall, Tom Price 271 Cases Reduced Civil War Abuses The Office of Special Counsel DESIGN/PRODUCTION EDITOR: Olu B. Davis 274 The 1863 False Claims Act closed 1,154 cases in 2004. ASSISTANT EDITOR: Melissa J. Hipolit authorized fraud suits on the government’s behalf. Only Three Whistleblowers 272 Won Their Cases Legal Shields Claims by more than 160 276 The 1978 Civil Service Re- employees were rejected. form Act created two A Division of Chronology Congressional Quarterly Inc. whistleblower agencies. 275 Key events since 1967. SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER: 278 Famous Whistleblowers 276 The Downfall of Richard John A. Jenkins Insiders’ revelations rocked M. Barlow DIRECTOR, LIBRARY PUBLISHING: Kathryn C. Suárez the tobacco industry and An outspoken Pentagon Air Force in the 1990s. analyst is forced to resign. DIRECTOR, EDITORIAL OPERATIONS: Ann Davies Critics Question Agency’s Post-9/11 Whistleblowing 278 CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY INC. 280 Government intelligence Commitment Is the Office of Special CHAIRMAN: Paul C. Tash officials were challenged. Counsel anti-whistleblower? VICE CHAIRMAN: Andrew P. Corty At Issue PRESIDENT/EDITOR IN CHIEF: Robert W. Merry CURRENT SITUATION 281 Should Congress expand whistleblower rights? Copyright © 2006 CQ Press, a division of Congres- Legislative Potential sional Quarterly Inc. (CQ). CQ reserves all copyright 282 Sen. Frank Lautenberg and other rights herein, unless previously specified proposes protection for FOR FURTHER RESEARCH in writing. No part of this publication may be re- spy-agency whistleblowers. produced electronically or otherwise without prior For More Information written permission. Unauthorized reproduction or 285 Organizations to contact. transmission of CQ copyrighted material is a violation Free Speech at Work of federal law carrying civil fines of up to $100,000. 282 The Supreme Court may limit whistleblower rights. Bibliography CQ Researcher (ISSN 1056-2036) is printed on acid- 286 Selected sources used. free paper. Published weekly, except March 24, July 7, July 14, Aug. 4, Aug. 11, Nov. 24, Dec. 22 and OUTLOOK 287 The Next Step Dec. 29, by CQ Press, a division of Congressional Additional articles. Quarterly Inc. Annual full-service subscriptions for institutions start at $667. For pricing, call 1-800-834- Open Floodgates? Citing the CQ Researcher 283 Is a wave of whistleblower 287 9020, ext. 1906. To purchase a CQ Researcher re- Sample bibliography formats. port in print or electronic format (PDF), visit complaints coming? www.cqpress.com or call 866-427-7737. Single reports start at $10. Bulk purchase discounts and electronic- rights licensing are also available. Periodicals post- age paid at Washington, D.C., and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to CQ Cover: Bunnatine H. Greenhouse, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contracts supervisor, was Researcher, 1255 22nd St., N.W., Suite 400, Washing- demoted in 2005 after challenging Iraq war contracts awarded to a subsidiary of the Halliburton ton, DC 20037. Co. She is contesting her demotion. (Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla) 266 CQ Researcher Protecting Whistleblowers BY PETER KATEL Today, with the war in Iraq beginning its fourth year and THE ISSUES debate intensifying over the hen Sgt. Samuel government’s counterterrorism Provance learned tactics, national-security W U.S. forces at Abu whistleblowers increasingly Ghraib prison near Baghdad have come in conflict with were abusing Iraqi prisoners, government efforts to control he knew he had to do some- information affecting the coun- thing. But there was pressure try’s safety. to remain silent, he testified “When they go out and before the House National talk to the public about a Security Subcommittee on highly classified program, they Feb. 14, sitting ramrod straight harm the national security of at a gleaming, wooden wit- this country,” Attorney Gen- ness table. eral Alberto R. Gonzales told “I was told that the honor the Senate Judiciary Commit- of my unit and the Army de- tee on Feb. 6. pended on either withhold- But whistleblowers and ing the truth or outright lies,” their defenders contend that he said. 1 government officials often use Nonetheless, Provance secrecy rules to stifle politi- informed his superiors, and cally embarrassing truths. then reporters, that Military “New whistleblower protec- Intelligence officers had di- Getty Images/Linda Spillers tions should immediately be rected the abuses — con- Former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds, at her home in established for members of Alexandria, Va., was dismissed by the FBI after exposing trary to official claims that alleged wrongdoing and incompetence. The U.S. the executive branch who rogue troops were responsi- Supreme Court refused to hear her case after report evidence of wrong- ble. In response, the Army government lawyers said they couldn’t argue against doing — especially where it revoked his security clear- her lawsuit without revealing state secrets. involves . the sensitive ance and demoted him. areas of national security,” The Defense Department present- zens when it comes to asserting their former Vice President Al Gore said in ed no witness to contradict Provance’s rights to speak truth to power.” a January speech. 3 account. Nor were other witnesses’ In recent years, whistleblowers Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., has allegations of reprisals disputed. They have exposed wrongdoing or incom- introduced a bill to prevent govern- told of being harassed, fired or forced petence hidden behind walls of cor- ment officials from claiming secrecy to resign for revealing a number of porate or government secrecy, from when whistleblowers try to denounce national security foul-ups, including the financial fraud that led to the wrongdoing or prove retaliation. And the alleged cover-up of early discov- Enron collapse to the tobacco indus- Rep. Todd R. Platts, R-Pa., and Sen. eries concerning the Sept. 11, 2001, try’s lies about the cancer-causing na- Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, introduced terrorists; a botched FBI terrorism ture of cigarettes. whistleblower-protection bills last year. investigation; foreign infiltration of the In the process, whistleblowers often The Senate Homeland Security and top-secret National Security Agency become media heroes. In 2002, FBI Governmental Affairs Committee ap- (NSA) and poor security at U.S. nuclear agent Colleen Rowley was named one proved the Akaka bill, and the House power plants. of Time magazine’s “Persons of the Government Reform Committee OK’d “We need national-security whistle- Year” for revealing FBI incompetence Platts’ proposal, but neither bill has blowers to tell us when things go wrong,” before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist at- moved to the full Congress. said Subcommittee Chairman Christo- tacks. Also named were two corpo- The bills were introduced against pher Shays, R-Conn. “But those with rate whistleblowers — former Enron the backdrop of high-stakes court bat- whom we trust the nation’s secrets are Vice President Sherron Watkins and tles between whistleblowers and the too often treated like second-class citi- WorldCom auditor
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