A Few Words for Potential Whistleblowers
When I started this journey, I expected certain outcomes that never existed—the outcomes were way better than I could have imagined. A big reason for that is my lawyer. Without Peter Chatfield and his firm, Phillips & Cohen, none of these outcomes would have come to pass. He and his colleagues were all helpful through the entire process, often above and beyond the call of duty.
Why is it important for people to know about whistleblowing? First, it’s against human nature. Most people would not—and do not—become whistleblowers. They don’t want to rock the boat or take the risk of reprisals and retaliation. We go along to get along.
I was just one person who stepped up. But maybe my story will encourage one other person to step up someday, somewhere: maybe in the pharmaceutical industry, some other corporation, government, law enforcement, or neighborhood nonprofit. I recently heard about a volunteer treasurer for a local Little League team who had been stealing money from the kids’ dues for years—until a parent figured out what was going on and blew the whistle with the other parents.
There’s not one single path for whistleblowing. Every example of wrongdoing happening in secret is different. Every thief or fraudster is different—and every whistleblower is different. But if you find yourself in the position of possibly blowing the whistle, don’t automatically reject it. Don’t automatically turn away from wrongdoing just because turning away is safer or less of a hassle. Don’t help sweep things under the rug. Don’t help the bad people keep doing bad things. Shine a light. Like the investigative journalists say, sunlight is the best disinfectant.
If you do find yourself considering whether to blow the whistle, especially when doing it like I did—from inside a company, a government agency, or another established institution—there are how-to guidebooks that advise on keeping yourself safe and being effective. But I’ll give you the four things that I’d advise any potential whistleblower:
1. Get the right lawyers early in the process
—if possible, before you blow the whistle. If you think it may lead to a False Claims Act action, seek out a good qui tam lawyer.
2. Understand the evidence.
Just because someone is doing something wrong doesn’t mean that person can be stopped or punished. You need evidence related to the fraud. You need to know what proof is needed, and whether you can produce it, in order to build a whistleblower case.
3. Think hard about getting that evidence
and gathering it most effectively without exposing yourself.
4. Know, perhaps with the help of your lawyer, what you are going to do with the evidence.
To whom are you going to give it? What will they do with it? I turned my informant evidence over to the federal agents handling me. I turned more evidence over to my lawyers for the qui tam case. But you might also consider ombudspeople or internal investigators or journalists. Keep copies of everything you pass along, and write a journal with names, dates, and places.
As a whistleblower in general, and as a relator on a qui tam suit in particular, you need to be aware of the dangers to you personally, both financially and emotionally. Some people don’t fall apart. They soldier on, holding it all together. I fell apart, and my book Cold Comfort details my difficult years.
If your endeavor is centered around a common cause for good and not wrapped up in egos—either the whistleblower’s or the lawyers’—you can accomplish anything. I really believe that if work is done for the right reasons and rooted in good for society, then all is possible. It becomes bigger than an individual and any egos. It’s not about you. And it’s not about the money.
The most successful whistleblowers are the ones whose efforts resulted in some change for the public good and who came away from the experience satisfied with themselves and what they did. No successful whistleblower I ever met went into it for the money.