The Price of Whistleblowing

While our politicians fight to give leakers special protection, whistleblowers who honorably do the right thing are permitted to be abused. It’s yet another inversion of what government ought to be doing.

Air Marshal P. Jeffery Black said,

Every air marshal that has whistleblown publicly so far has been summarily terminated one way or another. It is just a matter of time before I receive my retaliatory pink slip. I am sure there are TSA/FAMS management bureaucrats in a basement somewhere at this very moment, scheming and drawing up battle plans to attack my character and veracity. I wouldn’t expect anything less from the Transportation Security Administration.

He’s even had a federal thug - in fact, it was his boss - try to bully a UPS store owner into giving up his records in the course of a extrajudicial and unauthorized investigation on him.

Other whistleblowers are receiving the same bullying tactics, including physical violence. Peter Nesbitt’s bosses at Memphis International Airport’s air traffic control outright lied and said they had a special waiver to land planes in a dangerous way. Nesbitt reported it; no such waiver existed. Undeterred, they kept on until he reported them again.

The retaliation against him was quick and intense, Nesbitt says. Over the past year, managers in Memphis have decertified him for alleged performance issues.

Aircraft inspectors received similar treatment:

“When I came forward, the next step was to put me under investigation, take my inspector duties away, and tell me I had to stay in my cube and stare at the four walls for six months,” Boutris says.

Anne Whiteman received the worst treatment yet -

“They did things blatant, they tried to run me off the road,” Whiteman says. “A guy used to knock me down at work all the time. He’d walk by — if nobody was looking, he’d knock me down.”

… They retaliated by declaring her medically unfit for duty. … Whiteman says that for her it doesn’t matter, the retaliation in Dallas never stops. After 10 years, she’s worn down.

“I used to say I would do it again; [now I'm] not so sure,” Whiteman says, her voice shaking. “Twice now I’ve been removed from my job. The most recent instance, I was locked in the office. I’ll never be the same ‘ole Annie again. They’ve changed me in many ways. But I do have my pride. I do have a sense that I did the right thing, but I have a whole lot of sadness that I don’t think I would have ever had.”

Whiteman’s account and supporting testimony by witnesses were documented by the federal government. Managers disputed the door was locked.

If these people had kept their mouths shut at work and spoken confidentially with a reporter, the reporter would be subject to all kinds of protection, from legal help to public support and would be known as a hero for exposing the truth.

Don’t these whistleblowers, who may well have saved lives by going public, deserve at least as much support as reporters?

Trackposted to The Virtuous Republic, Rosemary’s Thoughts, 123beta, Right Truth, DragonLady’s World, Stuck On Stupid, Cao’s Blog, Leaning Straight Up, Democrat=Socialist, Conservative Cat, Pet’s Garden Blog, Nuke Gingrich, third world county, Allie is Wired, McCain Blogs, Woman Honor Thyself, The World According to Carl, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, , and Stageleft, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.