Whistleblower Week in Washington

Whistleblower Week in Washington is the name given to a series of events in Washington, D.C. meant to raise awareness about whistleblowing. The first Whistleblower Week took place in Washington, D.C. from May 13-19, 2007 and was sponsored by a loose coalition of whistleblower-related advocacy groups. During the week, whistleblowers and their allies gathered for awards ceremonies, speeches, panel discussions, and training sessions.

The week was timed to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the May 15, 2002 enactment of the "Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002" (Public Law 107-174), which is now known as the No-FEAR Act.cite web |url=http://federaltimes.com/index.php?S=2744160|title=First Whistleblower Week in Washington begins Sunday |author=Tim Kauffman |publisher=federaltimes.com |date=May 11 2007 |accessdate=2008-07-15] One purpose of the act was to "require that Federal agencies be accountable for violations of antidiscrimination and whistleblower protection laws." The law came to fruition after Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, an EPA employee, won a racial and gender discrimination lawsuit after alleging that a United States company was exposing South African miners and their families to toxic levels of vanadium. [Fears, D., "Coming Soon: A Tale of Whistleblowing at the EPA," Washington Post, 10 July 2006. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/09/AR2006070900741_pf.html] ]

The 2007 event was featured in the "New York Times".cite web |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/18/washington/18whistleblower.htm?_r=1&oref=slogin |title=From Out of the Shadows, Whistle-Blowers Convene |author=Scott Shane |publisher=nytimes.com |date=May 18 2007 |accessdate=2007-10-27]

Participants

The first Whistleblower Week was organized by around fifty organizations and included a diverse group of participants, from a United States Senator to a 9-11 conspiracy theorist recruiting followers.

Notable attendees included:

*Republican Senator Charles Grassley, who received a lifetime achievement award for his fight against waste, fraud and corruption in government.

*Jeffrey Wigand, a former tobacco executive who reported the industry's manipulation of nicotine levels in cigarettes and was featured in the movie "The Insider".

*Coleen Rowley, who blew the whistle on the FBI's negligence preceding the September 11 terrorist attack. Ms. Rowley was named as one of "Time Magazine"'s Persons of the Year, along with conference supporter and Enron whistleblower Sherron Watkins. The FBI Oversight Panel was led by former FBI Special Agents Rowley and Mike German.

*Bogdan Dzakovic, former Federal Aviation Administration terrorism expert.

*Bunnatine H. Greenhouse, of the Army Corps of Engineers. Greenhouse opposed the process that awarded government contracts to Halliburton, Inc., without counterbids.

*Stephen Kohn, who refers to his law office as the "National Whistleblower Center" and hosted a series of workshops to aid whistleblowers and their lawyers. Kohn reminded participants that they stand to gain monetarily from whistleblowing activities.

References

External links

*http://www.w3conference.org/
* [http://www.feldf.com/ Federal Employees Legal Defense Fund, Inc.]