Glossary of Whistleblower Terminology
If you decide to share your story with the media, you need to understand key terms that may be referenced by a journalist in an interview. It is also important to learn terminology that will help you protect yourself, as well as some legal terms relating to whistleblowing and the media. Note: Many newsrooms adhere […]
Susan Fowler — Uber, 2017
What was the whistleblower’s path to coming forward? In February 2017, Susan Fowler posted a blog entry, “Reflecting On One Very, Very Strange Year At Uber,” about the sexism she experienced as a site reliability engineer for the company — and how her complaints were consistently undermined and ignored by HR. She described how her […]
Erika Cheung — Theranos, 2015
What was the whistleblower’s path to coming forward? In 2013, Erika Cheung was a new employee at Theranos and excited to be working at such a prominent company fresh out of college. Then she started noticing that quality control tests on patients’ samples were continuously failing. Cheung raised concerns to senior management but was shut down and told nothing […]
Cynthia Cooper — WorldCom, 2002
What was the whistleblower’s path to coming forward? Cynthia Cooper was raised in Clinton, Mississippi — home to the headquarters of WorldCom, the telecommunications company on whom she would eventually blow the whistle. In an interview for Fraud Magazine, Cooper noted that WorldCom was the only Fortune 500 company headquartered in Mississippi, “truly a Cinderella […]
The Outcome
Perhaps the most important matter to consider before publicly speaking out against an employer is identifying the outcome you want to achieve — and understanding the other possible outcomes you may face. Although each case sees a unique resolution, several potential outcomes can be anticipated: Lawsuits Aside from lawsuits that may be filed against the […]
Job and Financial Security
Deciding to speak out publicly against an employer is likely to have a ripple effect that can impact a whistleblower’s career, even years later. Whistleblowing is an important pillar of American democracy, but it does not pay the bills. Workplace retaliation According to a study published in the DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal, two-thirds […]
Digital Security
Blowing the whistle in the digital era brings nuanced challenges in cybersecurity and data protection. You need to ensure that your identity and personal information — and that of your loved ones — are safeguarded online. Every whistleblower should take the following cybersecurity steps before going public: Understand your data rights. Data literacy, especially when […]
Preparing for Retaliation
Backlash “comes with the territory” of speaking out against a public organization. After sharing a story with the media — and with the public, once it is published — a whistleblower needs to be prepared for possible doxing and other types of harassment, both online and offline. Here are some ways to stay safe and […]
Documentation
A whistleblower’s story is only as good as the proof that backs it up — which makes documentation a fundamentally important part of the whistleblowing process. “Documentation when you’re fighting discrimination, harassment, and retaliation is critical. But [whistleblowers] are so often told along the way to not document for a variety of reasons . . . So […]
Paths to Going Public
Just as every whistleblower’s story is unique, so too is their path in bringing it to the public. Some are most comfortable sharing their story with one trusted journalist, and others would rather take matters into their own hands with self-publication. Whistleblowers typically navigate one of these three paths in coming forward: Disclosing information to […]
