Temat: WHISTLEBLOWER NEWS. 21 Feb. 2014 – 07

WHISTLEBLOWER NEWS. 21 Feb. 2014 – 07

News & Observer: Whisteblower at State Agency Finds Himself Fired
Summary: A North Carolina state employee alleges that the Department of Public Safety fired him in December as retaliation for his efforts to report theft, embezzlement or misuse of state property. He was let go two months after the agency reclassified his position to make it exempt from recently strengthened state whistleblower protections.

Washington Post: KBR Accused of Reining in Whistleblowers
Summary: Government contracting behemoth KBR (formerly Kellogg Brown & Root) and its former parent company Halliburton are being accused in a whistleblower suit of, according to the article, making employees “sign internal confidentiality statements barring them from speaking to anyone about their allegations, including government investigators and prosecutors.” Legal counsel for the whistleblower claim that such an action violates federal laws.

CBS Evening News: Hanford Nuclear Plant's Environmental Manager Claims She Was Fired for Whistleblowing
Summary: Donna Busche, a prominent whistleblower fired on Tuesday from the Hanford Nuclear Site is the latest in a series of whistleblowers who have come forward with safety concerns over the site’s vitrification plant, which mixes extremely toxic nuclear waste with glass at high temperatures. She had previously filed complaints with the federal government about retaliation.

Washington Informer: World Bank Critics Seek Outside Help
Summary: In Washington DC, local groups are coming together to fight against “racial bias and discrimination” at the World Bank.

Capital Connections: Whistleblower Anonymity Bill Passes – Without New Public Records Exemption
Summary: Yesterday, the Vermont House of Representatives passed legislation that will allow for any citizen or government worker “to anonymously blow the whistle on public bodies or public contractors for breaking the law, creating a threat to health or safety, or engaging in waste, fraud or abuse of authority.”

Fox News: Law Aiding Whistleblowers Puts UN on Notice
Summary: This op-ed by GAP client James Wasserstrom details his efforts to help enact, and the glaring need for, recently-signed federal law that requires the Secretary of State to certify that each agency at the United Nations which receives U.S. contributions is adhering to best practices for the protection of whistleblowers. Agencies that lack such certification will lose 15 percent of their U.S. funding. While previously assigned to the U.N. peacekeeping operation in Kosovo, Wasserstrom exposed a kickback scheme and faced terrible negative personal and professional retaliation.

Associated Press: Whistleblower Fired from Hanford Nuclear Site
Summary: A whistleblower from the Hanford Nuclear Site in Washington state was fired yesterday. Donna Busche is yet another whistleblower who has come forward with safety concerns over the site’s vitrification plant, which mixes extremely toxic nuclear waste with glass at high temperatures. She had previously filed complaints with the federal government about retaliation. Now she expects to file a wrongful termination suit against a subcontractor of government contract behemoth Bechtel.

West Virginia Record: House Judiciary to Look at False Claims Act Legislation Again
Summary: A committee of the West Virginia House of Representatives is expected to reconsider legislation this week that would institute a state False Claims Act. This type of legislation, in place in many states around the country, provides a monetary incentive for whistleblowers and members of the public to report instances of corporate fraud involving taxpayer money.

More: http://www.whistleblower.org/