Whistleblower Week in Washington
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article is an orphan, as few or no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from other articles related to it. (November 2008) |
 |
This article's tone or style may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. (July 2008) |
 |
A major contributor to this article appears to have a conflict of interest with its subject. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Please discuss further on the talk page. (July 2008) |
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2008) |
Whistleblower Week in Washington is the name given to a series of events in Washington, D.C. meant to raise awareness about whistleblowing. The first Whistleblower Week took place in Washington, D.C. from May 13–19, 2007 and was sponsored by a loose coalition of whistleblower-related advocacy groups. During the week, whistleblowers and their allies gathered for awards ceremonies, speeches, panel discussions, and training sessions.
The week was timed to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the May 15, 2002 enactment of the "Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002" (Public Law 107-174), which is now known as the No-FEAR Act.[1] One purpose of the act was to "require that Federal agencies be accountable for violations of antidiscrimination and whistleblower protection laws." The law came to fruition after Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, an EPA employee, won a racial and gender discrimination lawsuit after alleging that a United States company was exposing South African miners and their families to toxic levels of vanadium.[2]
The 2007 event was featured in the New York Times.[3]
[edit] Participants
The first Whistleblower Week was organized by around fifty organizations[1] and included a diverse group of participants, from a United States Senator to a 9-11 conspiracy theorist recruiting followers.[3]
Notable attendees included:
- Republican Senator Charles Grassley, who received a lifetime achievement award for his fight against waste, fraud and corruption in government.
- Jeffrey Wigand, a former tobacco executive who reported the industry's manipulation of nicotine levels in cigarettes and was featured in the movie The Insider.
- Coleen Rowley, who blew the whistle on the FBI's negligence preceding the September 11 terrorist attack. Ms. Rowley was named as one of Time Magazine's Persons of the Year, along with conference supporter and Enron whistleblower Sherron Watkins. The FBI Oversight Panel was led by former FBI Special Agents Rowley and Mike German.
- Bogdan Dzakovic, former Federal Aviation Administration terrorism expert.[1]
- Bunnatine H. Greenhouse, of the Army Corps of Engineers. Greenhouse opposed the process that awarded government contracts to Halliburton, Inc., without counterbids.[3]
- Stephen Kohn, who refers to his law office as the "National Whistleblower Center" and hosted a series of workshops to aid whistleblowers and their lawyers. Kohn reminded participants that they stand to gain monetarily from whistleblowing activities.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Tim Kauffman (May 11, 2007). "First Whistleblower Week in Washington begins Sunday". federaltimes.com. http://federaltimes.com/index.php?S=2744160. Retrieved on 2008-07-15.
- ^ [Fears, D., "Coming Soon: A Tale of Whistleblowing at the EPA," Washington Post, 10 July 2006. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/09/AR2006070900741_pf.html]
- ^ a b c d Scott Shane (May 18, 2007). "From Out of the Shadows, Whistle-Blowers Convene". nytimes.com. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/18/washington/18whistleblower.htm?_r=1&oref=slogin. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
