Protesting The Federal Whistle Blower - A Case Study

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Due to the large scale financial, security or public safety issues being handled by federal bodies, whistleblowers who feel the moral responsibility in the department or public body that they are employed in, generally are taken much more seriously and enjoy a higher level of personal protection than employees of a private concern.

Some high profile cases such as the one involving Shawn Carpenter, who worked in the technical department at Sandia National Laboratories, specializing in the fields of network intrusion detection and computer forensics. During the course of his work, Shawn came across the startling and shocking fact that hundreds of computer networks at major US defense contractors, military installations and government agencies were being systematically compromised. Information of the highest sensitivity that could have caused extreme danger to the United States was being stolen by sophisticated computer hackers. After checking and double checking that his findings were accurate and shockingly true, he approached his employers at Sandia National Laboratories.

When he brought details of this activity to the attention of his superiors, Shawn was dumfounded to be instructed not to share this information with anyone, and that management felt that it was not of their concern. Feeling this employer's response represented a threat to national security, he approached the American Federal Bureau of Investigation to report the problem. When Sandia discovered that Shawn had reported his findings to the FBI, he was immediately dismissed. However, he sued his employees for unfair dismissal and he was recently awarded $4.7 million as compensation for unfair dismissal.

A sign of the effectiveness and power that recent Whistleblower laws and other laws that that have provisions for employer retaliation protection are enforced by numerous government agencies. An apt example of this would be the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and its divisions, which enforce several major laws that directly, protect whistle blowers or have provisions to shelter employees against retaliation. Protection is also provided for reporting desecration of the laws, refusing to engage in any action made illegitimate by the laws, or participating in any proceedings under the laws.

Shawn's case is the most prominent to date of how a member of the public's concerns of national security were significantly strong enough for him to jeopardize his career for something that he believed strongly enough about. The rewards that he received should send out a strong message both to federal bodies who commit illegal acts or condone them, also for people who see fit to blow the whistle on such activities that they are not alone.