Whistleblower Protection Blog : Whistleblower Lawyer & Attorney : National Whistleblower Legal Defense and Education Fund : Whistleblower Protection, Fraud Claims : Washington DC

Next Tuesday, October 5, at 9:00 p.m., many public television stations will broadcast The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. It is a 90-minute documentary about Daniel Ellsberg's life, his education and rise in the world of a secret government-funded think-tank, and the thinking that brought him to release the classified Pentagon Papers. I had the opportunity to see this film earlier this year. It is a dramatic story of conscience versus government power, and I recommend it. Here is a link to the trailer. Here is a link to a live chat with Daniel Ellsberg and the filmmakers on October 6 at 2:00 pm eastern. Below is the description of the film by the producers at PBS' Point-of-View:

In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg, a leading Vietnam War strategist, concludes that America's role in the war is based on decades of lies. He leaks 7,000 pages of top-secret documents to The New York Times, a daring act of conscience that leads directly to Watergate, President Nixon's resignation and the end of the Vietnam War. Ellsberg and a who's-who of Vietnam-era movers and shakers give a riveting account of those world-changing events in POV's The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers by award-winning filmmakers Judith Ehrlich (The Good War and Those Who Refused to Fight It) and Rick Goldsmith (Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press). A co-production of ITVS in association with American Documentary/POV.
 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

On behalf of the National Whistleblowers Center (NWC), David Colapinto and I filed a friend-of-the-court brief last week arguing that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) can protect corporate whistleblowers who make disclosures through the media. We filed the brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the case of Tides v. The Boeing Company, Case No. 10-35238. The brief examines the history of how whistleblowers have used the public attention of the media to spur government action on matters of public concern. In the 1970's, Congress began enacting statutes to protect whistleblowers. Courts and the Department of Labor quickly recognized that when whistleblowers use media outlets to raise their safety concerns, their use of the media can and should be protected. It is now one of the recognized ways in which whistleblowers can "cause" information to be disclosed to law enforcement agencies and others who can correct violations or set enforcement policy. This case law was well developed when Congress enacted SOX in 2002, and is fully consistent with the legislative purposes behind SOX.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Former Special Counsel Scott Bloch pled guilty earlier this year to one count of criminal contempt of Congress. He was due to be sentenced on Wednesday, but it was delayed so that the magistrate judge can decide whether there is a minimum one-month mandatory jail term. The statute (2 U.S.C. Section 192) says a person “shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 nor less than $100 and imprisonment in a common jail for not less than one month nor more than twelve months.”

Bloch and the government both claim that the plea deal reached was based on a sentence of probation, a fine and community service. The prosecutors are not seeking jail time. The court is not bound by the plea deal, but if the judge rules that there is a minimum one-month sentence, Bloch could move to withdraw his plea deal.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

A recent story published by Seattle’s KOMO News presented yet another case of an individual’s seemingly wrongful termination, after blowing the whistle on his superiors. Sean Taeschner, a former seventh grade teacher at the St. Paul School in Seattle, WA, claims he was fired after revealing that the Catholic school wrongfully utilized $200,000 in corporate matching funds. Taeschner stated that former principal Wayne Melonson wrongfully retained remaining funds from parent donations for student field trips to Washington, D.C. Taeschner claims that upon unveiling evidence that Mr. Melonson misused the donations, his teaching contract was not renewed. Prior to this incident, Mr. Taeschner was seen to be in good standing at the school.

An audit of the school’s financial records commissioned by the Seattle Archdiocese confirmed that Melonson did retain the funds as a “stipend for serving as tour director” for the field trips. Bishop Joseph Tyson, Superintendant of Catholic Schools, issued a letter to the St. Paul Parish, requesting that the money be repaid. In response, Archdiocese spokesman Greg Magnoni stated that any reimbursement would be unnecessary, claiming that the funds were used appropriately. Based on such commentary, Mr. Taeschner now believes the Archdiocese to be involved in the scandal.

Taeschner’s claims are supported by the findings in the audit, but the former teacher still remains unemployed and has been unsuccessful in finding another teaching position. Despite his current situation, Taeschner continues to assert that he “had a moral obligation” to reveal the school’s misconduct. His lawsuit against the diocese is currently pending.

*Elizabeth Finkelman (a NWC intern) drafted this posting. 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link