Whistleblower Support Fund

Dr. Donald Soeken, founder and Executive Director of the Whistleblower Support Fund, appeared recently on The Whistleblower with Mychal Wilson, Esq.  Soeken spoke with Wilson about his work helping whistleblowers and offered whistleblowers a glimpse of what they can expect after they go public with concerns.

“Most whistleblowers that I’ve interviewed get depressed,” Soeken told Wilson. “You can imagine why they would get depressed. If you have a job, you have a career, and that’s what your known for, and you lose it, then you start feeling like life isn’t worth living, because “I don’t have any way to make a living.”

But, whistleblowers have a lot of power, says Soeken. “It’s going to be tough,” he says, but “we’re going to help you through it.”

Soeken and Wilson know from personal experience what whistleblowers experience. Soeken exposed government abuses of psychiatric exams to retaliate against whistleblowers. Wilson blew the whistle on fraud at Bristol-Myers Squib.

See the video of Dr. Soeken’s interview here .  For more information, read Dr. Soeken’s book, “Don’t Kill the Messenger.”  A sample chapter and purchase information are available here.

Whistleblower Robert MacLean’s impressive Supreme Court victory should have resulted in restoration of his employment at the Transportation Security Administration. Instead, the former Air Marshal has been assigned to “restricted” duties (actually none, he says) as TSA tries to orchestrate his removal.

Forced to continue his legal battle despite a favorable ruling from the nation’s top court, Robert faces legal expenses estimated at nearly $200,000. A lot is riding on the outcome.

Robert writes, “TSA needs to endlessly fight me in order to chill other potential whistleblowers to remain silent. TSA cannot have its gross waste of taxpayer dollars be exposed.”

You can directly aid Robert, a WSF client, with legal expenses by donating to his GoFundMe page, managed by a retired U.S. Army Colonel and law enforcement officer.

Consider, also, making a tax-deductible donation to the Whistleblower Support Fund, enabling us to offer emergency financial aid to deserving whistleblowers like Robert.

An investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found serious problems at the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the federal agency responsible for investigating whistleblower disclosures and retaliation complaints.

Requested by members of Congress for the fiscal years (FY) 2011-2016, the investigation found an increase in complaints to OSC and a backlog that increased from 953 to 1,858. The backlog, GAO notes, “puts OSC’s ability to fulfill its mission of protecting federal employees at risk,” “delays attaining desired favorable actions and remedying wrongdoings,” and may discourage whistleblowers from making disclosures. [Originally published at Whistleblowing Today.] (more…)