Whistleblower cases are increasingly ending up like Ross' — with real action and compensation for the tipsters. In addition to the record-breaking number of tips, the SEC whistleblowing program awarded $229 million in 103 cases this year. In fiscal year 2021, that dollar amount was almost double at $564 million, more than the entire amount awarded from 2011 to 2020.
In the US, whistleblowing complaints around worker safety increased exponentially during the early days of the pandemic. The US Department of Labor found that theto the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's whistleblower program rose by 30% between February and May 2020. One such whistleblower was Dawn Wooten. Two years ago, she didn't even know what a whistleblower was. But she did know what she saw and heard while working as a nurse at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia. The center is operated by LaSalle Corrections, a private corporation, and Wooten says that during the height of COVID, she observed cases going unreported to the health department, medical documents being shredded, and masks not being issued to detainees.
After being demoted, she found Project South and the Government Accountability Project, which filed complaints to the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General on her behalf. According to the complaintfiled, Wooten also alleged that the facility flouted quarantine guidelines, that the warden allowed individuals who had COVID to be transferred to the facility, and that detainees who complained of symptoms were not tested.
Kate Kenny, a professor at the University of Galway and a researcher for Whistleblowing Impact, told me that while there is"more consciousness around whistleblowing," the use of"silencing mechanisms" such as keyboard tracking,
Navel. Not 'naval'. 8th paragraph. BrittaLokting