What is a whistleblower?

During the Palmer City Council meeting on October 8, may public commenters, including first responders and public safety personnel, spoke out as a whistleblower when they made comments against City Manager Stephen Jellie.

Most recently, the term whistleblower has been used when referring to Edward Snowden, who released classified material on top-secret National Security Agency programs including the PRISM surveillance program to The Guardian and The Washington Post in June 2013.

Earlier this year, several whistleblowers came forward to file complaints about hundreds of defective parts manufactured for the Boeing 737 MAX that later resulted in a door blowing off a plane while in flight.

In simplest terms, a whistleblower is someone who reports fraud, waste, abuse, corruption, or dangers to public health and safety to someone who is in the position to rectify the wrongdoing.

Most often, a whistleblower typically works inside of the organization where the wrongdoing is taking place; however, being an agency or company “insider” is not essential to serving as a whistleblower. What matters is that the individual discloses information about wrongdoing that otherwise would not be known.

In the U.S., dozens of whistleblower laws are now in place at the federal, state and local levels, ranging from the ‘False Claims Act’ to the ‘Clean Air Act to the Antarctic Conservation Act,’ and each has unique definitions and procedures.

In Alaska, the Alaska Occupational Safety and Health (AKOSH) is responsible for enforcing Alaska Statute 18.60.089, which says it is unlawful for an employer to retaliate against an employee for engaging in a protected activity.

What is included in a protected activity? Filing a safety/health complaint with AKOSH, participating in an AKOSH enforcement inspection or proceeding, reporting workplace safety/health concerns to management, reporting /filing workplace injuries, illnesses, or fatalities, and any right provided under AS 18.60.010-105

Whistleblowers can often face retaliation for their disclosure, including termination of employment. What is retaliation? It is a person taking an unfavorable employment action against an employee may be found to have violated AS 18.60.089 if the employee would not have experienced the unfavorable employment action(s) but for their protected activity. Examples include, but are not limited to: firing or laying off an employee, demoting, disciplining, blacklisting, denying overtime, or cutting hours.

Several other actions may also be considered retaliatory, including unreasonable increase in workloads, reduction of hours, preventing task completion, mobbing or bullying. Laws attempt to provide protection for whistleblowers and regulate whistleblowing activities. These laws tend to adopt different approaches to public and private sector whistleblowing.

It must be said that whistleblowers do not always achieve their aims. In order for their claims to be credible and successful, they must have compelling evidence so that the government or regulating body can investigate them and hold corrupt companies and/or government agencies to account. Sometimes, they must also persist in their efforts over what can often be years, in the face of extensive, coordinated and prolonged efforts that institutions can deploy to silence, discredit, isolate, and erode their financial and mental wellbeing.