A graduate student in business administration would like to study whistleblowers for her doctoral dissertation. Lorie Plegue has contacted the National Whistleblowers Center (NWC) asking if any whistleblowers would like to participate in her study of what happens to whistleblowers in the workplace. Lorie currently works as a workers compensation specialist for the 2010 U.S. Census. She is starting her third year of residency for her doctorate in business administration through the University of Phoenix. She is proposing that her dissertation focus on the ethics of whistleblowing. "Many companies, leaders, and members of the public do not realize that" whistleblowers go through a traumatic experience," Lorie says, "they do the right thing but are punished by others through retaliation, loss of job and financial matters." Anyone interested in contacting Lorie Plegue can email her at: pljp2@email.phoenix.edu
Lorie adds the following about her interest in the whistleblowing experience:
Whistleblowing is hard to prove in court because the burden of proof is on the plaintiff, documents get destroyed, not given to the plaintiff by the corporation. Top executives are finally being held responsible for bad decisions that are harmful to stakeholders and the public. The most frightening thing is someone always knows, but doesn’t come forward, like the salmonella and peanut episode. Nine people died and someone knew. There are so many examples of how if someone came forward, we could have saved lives. Take Firestone and Ford, for example. But workers do not. They are still not protected. Until we can change the minds of workers and executives and boards of corporations that the whistleblowers are doing the right thing so change can be done before deadly results happen then we will continue to experience harm to the public. The whistleblower will get the blunt of the retaliation and continue to receive harm in different ways. My goal is not only awareness but to find a solution to the problems whistleblowers endure, and to make a safe passage for future whistleblowers so they do come forth before harm is done.