TWO ROADS diverged in the woods, and I - I took the one less traveled, and that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken
MORAL AND SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES AT WORK
When Paul Revere rode to Lexington to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that the British were coming to arrest them, they say that he was asked not to make too much noise. Paul Revere said, "Noise?! You must be kidding. You'll know the true meaning of noise soon enough".
Paul Revere was arrested after successfully warning the citizenry, but during his famed ride, he lit lamps and hung them high in a local tower so people could see the approaching danger.
Like others, I prefer using the term "lamp lighter" versus "whistle-blower" because in the absence of the "lamp light" shone upon corruption, injustice, ineptitude, incompetence, power brokering, resume building, nepotism, racism, ageism, child maltreatment and gross abuses of power, these gross breaches of public trust would continue without consequence.
"If you must sin, sin against God and not the bureaucracy.
For God may forgive your sins, but the bureaucracy never will".
-Hyman G. Rickover
As a 14-year veteran social worker and child welfare advocate at the District of Columbia Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA), I was harassed, bullied by my supervisor, and finally fired in 2005 after standing up and speaking out for poor, predominantly African American and disenfranchised children in the nation's capitol. Ironically, some of these children were left to sleep under desks and sit up all night because alternative placement arrangements for them were not an agency priority.
The agency director turned a deaf ear to the warning that children were in trouble in the District of Columbia's care after she was told by more than one employee. Months went by and no action was taken to find safe, comfortable places for children to remain over night as they waited for appropriate foster homes.
After exhausting all government channels, CFSA took no significant action to provide for overnight accommodations and timely foster care placement for the children taken into its care until the media reported on the issue.
I paid the ultimate price for shining the light on the agency's ugly secret and lost my job. I want to empower other people of conscience and prevent this from happening to another public employee. My hope is that no other employee at CFSA will feel the need to ignore child maltreatment, mismanagement and abuse of power because of fear and intimidation inside CFSA.
Before You Blow the Whistle or Shine Your Lamp Light
A Check List for the Brave
Not withstanding what happened to me and hundreds of other whistle blowers, some more high profile than others, sometimes an employee is forced to blow the whistle.
As you will read in The Art of Anonymous Activism, employees don't even think they are blowing the whistle; they are just doing their jobs, but wake up on day to find that they invisibly made a transition from valued employee to Public Enemy Number One at work.
In other instances, employees are put into situations where their moral, spiritual and ethical values force them to fight for what is right - at all costs.
If you ever face such a realization, take a pause and consider these tips:
Consult Your Loved Ones - Taking on your agency or corporation is a David and Goliath challenge; so before taking any irreversible steps, talk to your spouse, family and/or close friends (the support group needed in the days to come) about your decision to blow the whistle. If they are not supportive, you may want to rethink this path.
Check for Skeletons in Your Closet - Any personal vulnerabilities can and will be used by the agency against you. They will also make up the rest. One practical step is to make a copy of every thing in your personnel file as insurance that new, but back-dated, "dirt" cannot be slipped in later.
Document, Document, and Document - Keep copious records and a daily diary of relevant information, memorialize conversations with letters to the file and maintain a separate set of documents outside of work in a safe place. Your chances of success will likely depend upon how powerful a paper trail you produce. Remember they are going to have their's because that's when the harassment begins. After you blow the whistle, your agency may immediately cut off your access to records.
Do Not Use Government Resources - Do not engage in whistle blowing activity on agency time, even to defend yourself a retaliation case, unless you have specific approval, such as through the union's collective bargaining agreement. Avoid using any agency fax machine, computer or other government resources in making your case. Also be extremely cautious about using the office phones for "unauthorized" conversations.
Check to See Who, If Anyone, Will Support Your Account - Gauge the level of support among your co-workers about your concerns. Get a sense of whether key people will back up your account. If you can't count on others for corroboration, you might want to rethink a head on confrontation with wrong doers.
Don't be dismayed if co-workers do not support you, even those buddies you thought were friends when you hung out for lunch every day.
People are afraid for their own jobs, which is understandable. Not everyone has the courage to follow their ethical and even spiritual convictions.
Consult an Attorney Early - Do not wait until you are in hot water before seeking professional legal advice from an attorney experienced in whistle blower laws. There are links to several whistle blower organizations that can provide attorney referrals and invaluable information and support.
Choose Your Battles - Pick favorable terrain for highlighting your issue. Don't sweat the small stuff. Waging a battle over an agency practice by contesting poor performance evaluations or retaliatory actions can quickly become a double edged sword. In any personnel action, the advantage is with the employer, not the lone employee.
Identify Allies - There is strength in numbers. Do not wait to be isolated by the agency. Share your knowledge with those that might have interest in your evidence. Seek out potential allies before the situation heats up, and work through intermediaries when possible. If possible, line up the assistance of sympathetic interest groups, elected officials and/or journalists. The strength of your support coalition may determine the outcome of the battle ahead.
Have a Well Thought Out Plan - Be clear headed about precisely what you expect to accomplish and how. Do not premise your actions on some vague notion that the truth will prevail. Plan out a step-by-step scenario of what documents to release when and anticipate public perception of agency responses.
Get Yourself a Little Career Counseling - Map out where your actions will leave you a year from now, two years, five years, etc. Plan out the route you want to take and how to reasonably proceed with your goals.
This of course is relevant to all disadvantaged populations, including the elderly, persons with physical and emotional challenges, and all others vulnerable groups.
Do You Have a Queasy Stomach and Tremble at Direct Confrontation?
A Better Way to Blow the Whistle and Remain a Stellar Employee
The Path to Anonymous Activism
Throwing away your entire career, if there are other ways to ventilate the problem, is imprudent and counterproductive. In addition, bureaucracies prefer to focus on the "disgruntled employee" rather than the substance of the problem. If you can keep the spotlight on the issue and not you, they are more likely to address the problem and you get to keep your job.
Public service does not mean blind obedience to your supervisor or subservient to an agency agenda that subverts the law and public interest.
Throwing away your entire career, if there are other ways to ventilate the problem, is imprudent and counterproductive. In addition, bureaucracies prefer to focus on the "disgruntled employee" rather than the substance of the problem. If you can keep the spotlight on the issue and not you, they are more likely to address the problem and you get to keep your job.
The Path to Anonymous Activism discusses many effective ways to bring agency issues to light by focusing on the message without exposing the messenger. This is called anonymous activism and is a superior tactic to whistle-blowing and taking on a frontal attack.
This does not mean baseless accusations thrown from the bushes. Employees within the agency are the public's eyes and ears. You are paid experts and in a good position to expose agency deception and corruption.
The intent behind anonymous activism or whistle - blowing is not disloyalty. Most of us willing to take career risks over public interest (especially children) do so out of a deep loyalty to the agency and are committed to its public service mission. Public service does not mean blind obedience to your supervisor or subservience to an agency agenda that subverts the law and public interest.
It generally means exposing what is occurring behind closed doors in what are supposed to be public agencies. A fundamental precept of our system in America is that the people's business should be conducted so that the people can learn what is being done in their name and with their tax dollars.
When an agency is under heightened public scrutiny, it seeks to appear as if it is doing the "right thing". Anonymous activists within the agency can appear on the front page of the next morning's paper or the evening news without agency managers knowing how it got there. Once they come to expect that insiders can routinely expose deception and questionable behavior, the probability for reform in that agency increases exponentially.
For information about keeping your job and personal integrity, while doing what is right, email Shirley Tabb by going to http://joinus2.org/contact.html for your copy of The Art of Anonymous Activism: Serving the Public While Surviving Public Service, while they last..
The 66 page paper back book is a publication by the Government Accountability Project (GAP), Project on Government Oversight (POGO), and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
I can also provide referrals to legal and other professionals who may provide some assistance to you.
Web Sites to Visit
Note: Most web sites are accessible without using www dot
(World Wide Web). Exceptions include complete web site addresses listed below.
Here is a brief list of websites that may be of assistance or interest to those concerned:
