Recently, a military worker made public some very serious charges against his boss, the federal government. Specifically, he alleged that the feds were not being up-front with Oregon environmental regulators regarding the safety of a military incinerator located in Utah. The military was proposing a similar incinerator in Oregon, and this employee asserted that the feds lied about the safety of the Utah facility so as to convince Oregon officials to allow the proposed incinerator in their state.

While we do not know who is telling the truth and who is not, one thing is for sure: more and more key employees are "ratting out" (which is the way corporate America sees it) their own bosses. The technical term for these often brave people is "whistle blower," as in the expression "blowing the whistle on corruption (or on government lies, etc)." Whistle blowers are people who reveal generally harmful or very unfair activities, often of which they have become aware because of their employment position within their employer's organization and, or their access to otherwise unavailable communications from within the organization.

While access to the truth is a key to whistle blowing, this does not mean that whistle blowers always come from senior level management. To the contrary, lab technicians who are ordered to routinely falsify reporting information sent to the EPA can be whistle blowers. So can hospital nurses who become aware that hospitals are not following proper medical waste procedures. Access to the truth is what counts, not necessarily rank within the organization.

Whistle blowing certainly seems to be on the increase, and one must question how it is that so many people are willing to risk their professional reputations and their careers? It would appear that at least a significant reason is that many states and the federal government have adopted a variety of whistle blowing laws. These laws are intended to provide some protection to insiders against retaliation from employers in the event they go public.

Whistle blower statutes differ in terms of the level of kind of protection they offer. Often, they provide covered employees with money damages and their job back (if they want their job back). Some provide reimbursement of attorneys fees in the event litigation is required.

There are many different whistle blower laws that are out there and they function differently. Some require government agency investigation before a whistle blowing lawsuit can be filed. Many apply to specific kinds of whistle blowing -- for example, whistle blowing in the environmental field or whistle blowing concerning air traffic safety.

Whistle blower laws are particularly helpful in environmental cases. This is so because many environmental violations and crimes are difficult to detect absent help from knowledgeable insiders. For example, if a company elects to lie about levels of pollutants being emitted into the air from a plant's smoke stack, often the only way that kind of lie may be detected is with the help of someone with inside information: a whistle blower.

For example, recently, a Utah employee of a company retained to destroy aging ammunition sued the company after he was fired when he went public with safety concerns relating to plant operations. An appeals has concluded that the employee should get his job back and should receive monetary compensation for his wrongful termination.. A

nd in a high profile case, an EPA official was fired after making known his view that fluoride should not be added to public drinking water supplies, a view not shared by the EPA. He filed a whistle blower lawsuit and won - regaining his job.

Do you have what it takes to be a whistle blower? You need to be brave and you need to be committed. Some companies have reportedly been involved in heavy handed tactics to combat whistle blowers. Defending businesses may attempt to discredit the whistle blower - even embarrass the individual, with the hope of shutting that person up. While it can get quite ugly, it certainly does not always become ugly.

Being a whistle blower may turn your life upside down for a while; but it may be an important , noble act that can save lives. Sometimes, you just can't remain quiet. But, its always a good idea to understand the law and your rights before you go public with your concerns.

Published: September 7, 2000

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Stuart Lieberman, Esq. writes about environmental issues. He was a New Jersey Deputy Attorney General assigned to the State Department of Environmental Protection from 1986 to 1990. Currently he is a shareholder in the environmental law firm of Lieberman & Blecher, P.C., located in Princeton, New Jersey. Stuart can be reached at slieberman@liebermanblecher.com.