WASHINGTON, D.C. | July 26, 2022 — On Friday, July 29, 2022, at 2:30 PM five influential whistleblowers discuss Life After Whistleblowing in a rousing panel about their life experiences. The panel, which is part of National Whistleblower Center’s (NWC), National Whistleblower Day celebration, and will be moderated by FBI whistleblower and Whistleblower Network Newsjournalist Jane Turner.
Together these couragous whistleblowers will discuss the impact whistleblowing has had in their lives and how they have moved forward. The panel will feature:
- Jane Turner, host of the Whistleblower of the Week Podcast and is a reporter at the Whistleblower Network News. Turner is known as a FBI whistleblower after exposing FBI failures within its Child Crime Program. Turner won in a unanimous jury verdict, a historic victory for all FBI whistleblowers, which led her to receive the largest compensatory damage that was permitted. However, Turner’s revelations caused her to face retaliation, but despite that she is one of the few FBI agents to win her cases under the FBI Whistleblower Protection Act.
- Dr. Fredric Whitehurst, is currently practicing law in North Carolina and works as a forensic consultant throughout the US. Dr. Whitehurst is best known for his exposure of forensic fraud at the Crime Laboratory of the FBI in the 1990’s. He is the first successful whistleblower to lead to oversight for the FBI crime lab. Dr. Whitehurst settled his whistleblower case for over $300,000 and established the Forensic Justice Project.
- Jackie Garrick, founder of Whistleblowers of America, blew the whistle during her job at the Department of Defense. Due to her experiences as a social worker for veterans affairs, Army Captain, and whistleblower, Garrick incorporated Whistleblowers of America (WoA) in 2017 after seeing a need for peer support for whistleblowers. WoA provides education and training to help people understand whistleblowers’ retaliation and assists those who have suffered retaliation after having identified harm to individuals or the public.
- Sara Thompson, is a Ph.D. student at the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University and was a Girls Education and Empowerment Peace Corps Volunteer. Stationed in Burkina Faso, Thompson was given an anti-malaria medication called mefloquine and experienced severe side effects she was not warned about. Thompson filed a claim with the Peace Corps for damages and injury which was rejected. To this day Sara Thompson has not had justice and has become an advocate for those who have served in the Peace Corps who suffered medical negligence, injuries, or illnesses. Thompson is the engine behind improvements in protections for Peace Corps Volunteers reflected in bipartisan Peace Corps Reauthorization Act of 2021.
- Sherron Watkins, known as the “Enron Whistleblower,” was a Director at Enron and in 1996 noticed signs of fraud. Watkins decided to write an anonymous memo, and after going to HR was subjected to retaliation. Congress found Watkin’s memos in February 2002 and the revelations they contained led to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act which expanded whistleblower protection requirements for all U.S. public companies. Due to her whistleblowing, Watkins was named Time’s Person of the Year in 2002.
This panel promises to be engaging and informative.
“I am so grateful Jane Turner is moderating this panel.” Said Siri Nelson, NWC Executive Director, “as a fantastic journalist and former investigator, she always knows which questions to ask. These whistleblowers truly have amazing stories and even better personalities!”
NWC will include three days of programing, and best way to stay updated is to RSVP for the event. NWC is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and this work is made possible by our generous donors. Please donate to support our annual celebration.
NWC Executive Director Siri Nelson is available for comment. For more information, contact NWC at info@whistleblowers.org.
