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http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/03/national/03WHIS.html

Whistle-Blowers Are Being Punished, According to Survey

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (AP) — Most employees who expose wrongdoing in the workplace face some form of retaliation, and many still lack the legal right to protect themselves, a report by a whistle-blowers' advocacy group had found.

About half the whistle-blowers who responded to a survey by the nonprofit group, the National Whistleblower Center in Washington, said they were fired after reporting unlawful conduct. Most of the others said they faced on-the-job harassment or unfair discipline.

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The report, released on Sunday, recommends that Congress pass legislation to protect all government and private sector whistle-blowers in the same way that those who report racial or sex discrimination are.

"The survey shows that people who blow the whistle perceive they are being discriminated against," said Stephen Kohn, the center's chairman. "There's a strong need for greater legal protection."

The unscientific survey of both government and private sector whistle-blowers was based on a random sample of 200 cases reported to the center this year.

About 51 percent of respondents said they reported fraud or criminal practices; 19 percent exposed health and safety-related problems; 10 percent disclosed environmental problems; 12 percent complained of discriminatory practices; and 9 percent found wrongdoing in the medical profession.

An official with the Office of Special Counsel, a federal agency that protects government whistle-blowers, said she was not familiar with the National Whistleblower Center report and could not comment on it.

Jane McFarland, the office's director of Congressional and public affairs, said the agency investigated about 700 complaints a year from whistle-blowers claiming retaliation and had a good success rate in helping them.

A patchwork of more than a dozen federal laws now allow whistle-blowers to fight employer reprisals in certain cases, like airline safety and nuclear power plant violations. Legislation passed in July protects for the first time employees who report financial misconduct at publicly traded companies.

Workers who expose many other types of abuse — election fraud, campaign finance abuse, obstruction of justice, witness intimidation and the like — remain without legal recourse if an employer retaliates, the report said.

An amendment to the domestic security bill pending in Congress would protect potential whistle-blowers in the proposed Department of Homeland Security.


 

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