This Week on Honesty Without Fear

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Lindsey Williams

Tune in tomorrow at 1:00pm EDT to Honesty Without Fear on Progressive Radio Network.

In the first half hour, Steven Kohn interviews whistleblower and former U.S. prosecutor Richard Convertino about the recent U.S. Court of Appeals decision that reinstated his Privacy Act case. In 2003, Mr. Convertino blew the whistle on former Attorney General Ashcroft's handling of terrorism prosecutions. High-ranking Justice Department officials retaliated against him by leaking highly disparaging and untrue information about him to the Detroit Free Press. The Appeals Court decision allows Mr. Convertino to continue to conduct discovery into who illegally leaked the information about him.

In the second half hour, Richard Renner speaks with whistleblower Charles Scott Howard about his recent reinstatement in his case against Cumberland River Coal Co. The company was also ordered to pay a $30,000 fine for discriminating against a whistleblower. Mr. Howard, no stranger to blowing the whistle on unsafe conditions in mines, started exposing safety issues back in 2007. He has also testified before a Congressional committee about mine safety issues. Australian singer/songwriter, Raymond Crooke, wrote a folk song about Scott (which was based on Dave Jamieson's 6/19/12 HuffPost article about Scott winning).

Submit Your Question to be asked on air during the show or call in to 1-888-874-4888.

 

Missed last week's episode?? You can listen to the podcast.

Tags:

This Week on Honesty Without Fear

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Lindsey Williams

Tune in tomorrow at 1:00pm EDT to Honesty Without Fear on Progressive Radio Network.
  
In the first half hour, Jane Turner interviews whistleblower Justin Hopson about his recently released book Breaking the Blue Wall: One Man's War Against Police Corruption. During his first days as a New Jersey State Trooper, Mr. Hopson witnessed an unlawful arrest and false report made by his training officer. When he refused to testify in support of the illegal arrest, he suffered severe harassment from a secret society within the State Police know as the "Lords of Discipline." For decades, The Lords' mission was to keep troopers in line. Mr. Hopson stood up to decades of silencing and sparked the largest internal investigation in State Police history. Listen to Jane and Mr. Hopson discuss his journey as a whistleblower.

In the second half hour, Richard Renner discusses a sweeping new pro-whistleblower decision by the Department of Labor with attorney Daniel Corey of the Sensible Law Institute. Attorney Corey represents Thomas Spinner who was fired for blowing the whistle on internal control problems at New York City's largest owner of office buildings, SL Green. The question in Mr. Spinner's case was whether the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) would protect him because he was fired by one of SL Green's contractors – not by SL Green. On May 31, 2012, the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB) explicitly rejected the holding of the First Circuit in Lawson v. FMR, LLC and held that SOX does in fact protect the employees of contractors. Tune in to hear how this will affect workers in the future.

Submit Your Question to be asked on air during the show or call in to 1-888-874-4888.

 

Missed last week's episode?? You can listen to the podcast.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

This Week on Honesty Without Fear

Posted on June 4, 2012 by Lindsey Williams

Tune in today at 1:00pm EDT to Honesty Without Fear on Progressive Radio Network.

In the first half hour, whistleblower Robert Whitmore speaks with Richard Renner about the landmark decision in his case last week. Mr. Whitmore's 37-year career with the Department of Labor came to an end after he disclosed how OSHA accepted impossibly low industry reports of worker injuries and illnesses. Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that Mr. Whitmore did not get a fair hearing from the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).

In the second half hour, Richard interviews Mr. Whitmore's attorney, Paula Dinerstein of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Ms. Dinerstein shares her experience in pursuing Mr. Whitmore's case when so few whistleblowers were winning cases at either the MSPB or the Federal Circuit. She also shares her analysis of the Mr. Whitmore's Federal Circuit decision, including what means for whistleblowers, their advocates, federal managers, and the MSPB.

 
Submit Your Question to be asked on air during the show or call in to 1-888-874-4888.

 

Missed last week's episode?? You can listen to the podcast.

Tags: , , , , ,