Have You Ever Been "Forced Out" or the Victim of Retaliation for Criticizing or Blowing a Whistle?

[McCamy Taylor]

Just curious. I suspect that a lot of people who post online at a forum like DU are also outspoken in their lives, on their jobs, at their childrens' schools, in their neighborhoods, at the organizations where they volunteer. How many of you were forced out for doing what you thought was the right thing---speaking up when a wrong was being committed, giving advice that went against the grain, making a complaint? How many of you were retaliated against? What happens when the group or organization doing the retaliation is one whose mission you believe in? Do you suffer pangs of conscience? Did you keep the retaliation secret, because you did not want to hurt the reputation of the group?

This is NOT about Edward Snowden, so let's not make it about him. If some of you will share your stories, I may open up and share mine.

[hlthe2b]

1. yes.... even more than a decade later, not something I feel comfortable talking about, however

Painful, even if I know I did the right thing. TPTB can be an incredible intractable and vindictive force. sigh...

[Autumn Colors]

2. I have

I reported something that was rampant in my department (company was being ripped off). I helped them catch one person but when only that one person was fired and the rest had to abide by "new rules", they made my life so unbearable, I walked out in the middle of a shift with no notice and never returned. Never spoke to the higher-ups who called me about the incident that made me leave. I also forfeited my pay for that last night since I never clocked out. I also lost 2 years' worth of work history/references for my resume.

It wasn't the powers that be in my case that were vindictive - it was my coworkers. Wish the whole lot of them had been canned. It wouldn't have been difficult since we all started as temps and really needed no specialized training other than skills we had been tested for through the temp agency.

I feel like I put my neck on the line for nothing. I probably would have ended up leaving the job eventually, but it would have been nice to have another job lined up before departing.

That's all I feel like saying.

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. Of course.

I was a teacher. You can't open your mouth re. bad policy WITHOUT being retaliated against.

No , I wasn't fired or forced out; just retaliated against via performance evals and onerous assignments.

And, of course, the "silent treatment."

It comes with the territory; every teacher I know says the same thing. But sometimes you gotta ... in the words of John Mayer... "say what you need to say."

It helped that most of my "whistleblowing" ( I'm not sure what I did was completely worthy of that term) was toward the end of the road. Retirement was in sight.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. I got 30 days of mess duty for speaking out against Vietnam and LBJ.

When they asked to extend my enlistment I told the Gunny Sergeant asking me to extend what I thought of LBJ and his war in, perhaps, too colorful terms.

[JustAnotherGen]

5. I was black balled in telecom

For awhile. The people that hired me after that - they hired me BECAUSE of it. They knew I would shoot straight.


I do not regret it.

[beveeheart]

7. I was interning as a paralegal for an attorney

specializing in financial estate planning. Cleaning out files one day I discovered 52 checks which should have been deposited in an escrow account and brought this to his attention. Before heading off to work the next morning, I was advised that the attorney did not need me anymore. His written review of my time there was not good, even though all along he had praised my work.

[GeorgeGist]

8. I did, but in the end ...

I told them to take the job and shove it. It's been over ten years and they didn't recover. They lost my share of their business.

[closeupready]

9. Let's just say I learned the hard way to pick my battles wisely.

I am a valuable employee because I work well in team situations, people enjoy my company, and I never ever ever complain. About anything. Ever.

The only exception is if the precipitating set of circumstances is so stressful or jobkilling that I am mentally prepared to lose my job (if my complaint goes unredressed) (or I am prepared to quit, without another job waiting).

This kind of character is rare in employees because it is something that requires experience, and an ability to think and act long-term. And by experience, I mean in most cases, you have to be fired for complaining about stupid shit in order to learn why it makes no sense to ... complain about stupid shit.

[ohheckyeah]

10. No, I haven't.

I blew the whistle on my bosses boss for cheating on his travel voucher. My boss handled it with internal affairs and nothing happened to me.

[TBF]

11. After many glowing reviews

I was forced out by a nurse manager who retaliated when I reported another nurse was inappropriate with patients. She gave me a scathing review although she had never worked with me. I had reported through HR thinking it would protect me - big mistake (I was just out of college). I resigned and went on with my life only to learn several years later that said nurse was eventually fired for exactly the reason I suspected.

[el_bryanto]

12. I've been professionally hurt by being loyal to the wrong people

But at the same time once those people got fired i ended up moving up - which made me feel guilty. I should probably have walked out of this job several years ago, but the money is good, and it's not a super strong economy where I live.

Bryant

[Skidmore]

13. Yes I have been and

I lost my career because I called attention to fraud and bad treatment of clients that I came across in a nonprofit I worked for. I did the right thing and so did my boss who lost her job and career too for supporting me. There was a jury trial and the jury found for us against the organization. I got no money but, more importantly, the offending portions of that organization were closed down and the clients sent for care with groups that would be ethical in aspects of management and care. I would do it again in a heartbeat because it was the right thing to do. I nearly lost everything, including my marriage, during this very stressful two year period of my life and I have never fully recovered my losses. Before initiating the notice sent to the organization of the wrongdoing I had uncovered by were ignored by middle management, I had consulted an attorney who warned me that this would be very tough. And it was. Sometimes you do what you need to do in a manner that reduces the damage to the innocent bystanders and stand your ground.

[McCamy Taylor]

14. Thanks. "If your bosses aren't mad at you, you aren't doing your job." Heat

The organization for which I work is taking a hard turn back to the right, so (of course) my job position is one of the only ones that has actually been canceled and replaced with an identical job position offered to someone else (not me) because they know I won't leave, I love a good fight. I am seeing so many colleagues (also physicians) being forced out that it is breaking my heart.

What worries me most is that the people doing the realigning don't seem to have a single functioning neuron between them. It has been like watching the Keystone Cops or the Three Stooges attempt a retaliation/realignment. Even if I keep my mouth shut, they are going to do something very, very stupid, get in a mess of trouble---and it will be the people they serve who will suffer.

[sweetexile]

15. yes, retaliation ongoing

Sure-I have researched and documented specifically how attorneys take advantage of laypeople and other public corruption issues. I will never have any true unattached friends free from the influence of those watching me as everything I research has the potential to upend anyone's career if they've been helping cover up deceit and coercion by authorities, so I accept this lifestyle where almost everyone's a spy if they're around me in any capacity. Peace. SweetExile

[Baitball Blogger]

19. Welcome to DU.

[JesterCS]

16. Yep from a job

Boss was purposely stalling on fixing a customers computer, had local news out a few times because of complaints. When I called him on it, the first excuse he found to fire me he did. I had jury duty and the day I came back from it I got the flu, and had to leave work. Told me if I left I was fired. Naturally I left. Rather than puke my brains out at the local flea market selling his junk.

[Chan790]

25. I'd have made him send me home.

He might say "If you leave, you're fired." but the reality is that he doesn't want you repping his business when you're puking in a second-hand vase you bought at the flea market.

[OriginalGeek]

17. Sort of

I used to manage a warehouse and let slip I thought whoever bought the fork-truck (before I got there) was a dumb-fuck. Completely inappropriate machine for the size of our shop and it needed to be replaced. It was a used POS and way too big but it was cheap and the exec had a friend and yada yada yada. They ended up getting a new manager and still had to get a new fork-truck.

[Zorra]

18. This is a very insightful and astute OP, thanks. nt

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

20. Not me, but I had a boss who blew the whistle on some of the higher-ups

For a number of reasons, she could not be fired, but she was laterally transferred into a meaningless job and they brought in someone wholly unqualified to take her old job. I was told, in as many words, that I was not to speak to her.

[LWolf]

21. Yes. nt

[Laxman]

22. Yes I Have Been....

my life was made miserable and eventually I was forced out of my job because I stood up for a fellow employee who was subjected to discrimination and harassment. I was able to verify her claims based upon my own experiences with her boss. They tried to say she was lying, but I knew she was telling the truth and was able to keep her from getting fired by coming forward and corroborating her claims. Once documented, they couldn't go after her, but as a white male, I was fair game. Plus her boss was a favorite of upper management. I had broken "the code". They were very creative in finding ways to punish me. Even so, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Standing up for what's right always means a little more when there's personal risk involved. Even though it cost me, I probably couldn't have lived with myself if I didn't.

[McCamy Taylor]

23. "I couldn't have lived with myself if I didn't." Exactly. Always amazes me how many folks

can rationalize looking the other way.

[beam me up scottie]

24. Yes.

Had the support of other coworkers until they saw what was happening to me; they kept their jobs, I lost mine.

I still can't talk about it.

[woodsprite]

26. I was relatively new to the job but found discrepancies in supplies orders, petty cash, etc.

I didn't say anything initially because I wasn't 100% sure what was going on. After I took a few of the required training classes, it wasn't hard to put together that my boss was doing something under the table and pocketing the petty cash. Still didn't know what I was going to do about it. I didn't feel comfortable with it and refused to take any of the money, place orders for supplies for items we didn't own, or write the petty cash receipts for fac/staff paying for supplies. Essentially, she'd buy supplies out of our lab budget for certain fac/staff for supplies for equipment we didn't own or have any place in the building, then she'd take personal checks and cash for payment. I could have looked past that if she had deposited the money following dept rules back into our accounts, but that never happened and statements were showing it happening with higher amounts and more frequency.

A few days after I made up my mind I was going to have to tell someone, her supervisor came down and asked me point blank if I knew of something going on down there that he should know about. Much to my relief, I spilled the entire story to him, and then again to upper administration, then again to internal audit/security. After she was confronted, my boss tried to make me and our network administrator an 'accomplice' saying that we knew where the petty cash box key was and took all of the reimbursed money from the box. Thankfully neither one of us (network admin or I) had written receipts to anyone and staff had verified that we refused to take payment when they tried to pay. None of her accusations held up under scrutiny of internal audit and an actual police investigation. She even was made to take a lie detector test (which she didn't pass - she blamed it on nerves) and they subpoenaed her personal bank records. Turns out that she had deposited all the checks written to her and made cash deposits which closely matched the petty cash receipt book. Outgoing checks from the account were for her personal purchases. I was questioned by internal audit how I knew how to handle petty cash. I told them I had taken the course that they taught and had handled it a couple of times for the Easter Seals and United Way campaigns run at work.

It was an ugly, stressful time. They gave her several options, including after they had hard proof that she pocketed all the money. She was made an offer that if she paid back the ~$5K, that she could keep her job, but she'd never be allowed to handle money (payroll, petty cash, supplies funds) again. She refused the offer saying she was innocent and the network admin and I took the money (including the checks made out to her and deposited to her bank acct). She ended up losing her job, being escorted out of the building and being banned from campus by security.

After all that, her supervisor said the day that he came down to me and asked if I new of something they should be concerned about was because she had been doing paid private consulting for staff and their "external interests" during her regular work hours.

Glad that phase of my life is over with. I still feel that I did the right thing. I liked her, but she was stealing, and then tried to blame it on me and the network admin. From what I hear, she still does visit certain offices and does some private consulting. Yup, there were people on staff (mainly her friends) who refused to speak to me during the whole process. I figured that was their problem. I did the right thing.