Why Peer support?
Whistleblowers should not have to be alone in relating wrongdoing. For too long, the negative stereotypes and ostracism have hurt honest and ethical employees who take on toxic leaders in a hostile environment.
As peers, we can come together and support each other through an often confusing legal process. While complaints and disclosures take years to investigate, whistleblowers suffer retaliation, retribution, and reprisal, resulting in financial, legal, social, emotional, and physical consequences.
Peer support is an evidence-based approach to handling those traumatic stressors.
The Psychosocial Impacts of Whistleblower Retaliation
The Psychosocial Impacts of Whistleblower Retaliation is a useful resource offering a new way for social workers, mental health providers, advocates, and other support services professionals and practitioners to assist whistleblowers.
WHISTLEBLOWERS AREAS OF CONCERN:
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Violations
Disability and Reasonable Accommodations
NO FEAR Act Protections
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Complaints
Waste, Fraud and Abuse Reports
Prohibited Personnel Practices
Office of Special Counsel (OSC) Cases
Inspector General (IG) and other Investigations
Veterans and Survivor Benefits Denials
Medicare/Medicaid Fraud
Toxic Tactics & Workplace Violence Prevention
Veterans Make Excellent Whistleblowers
Many of the contacts to WoA come from veterans or Departments of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs(VA) employees/contractors, so WoA has a large concentration on wrongdoing reported in these agencies. By example, our peers have reported on mismanagement of waiting lists at hospitals, over-prescribing of medication, racial discrimination, and misuse of funds.
Reports of Wrongdoing
Military members, veterans, and their civilian counterparts have been trained to "See something, say something." And they do! The Office of Special Council (OSC) reports that the majority of their cases are generated from VA and DoD. Congress has held multiple hearings based on reports to agency Inspector Generals (IG) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has conducted additional evaluations all because whistleblowers came forward. The media has also benefited from having reliable sources for their stories come from our whistleblowers.
Peer Support: When Your Life Depends on it
In the military and in other dangerous jobs, you need to know who has your back, and at WoA, we do. When you have seen medical errors, denied benefits, discrimination, contamination, or waste, fraud and abuse of funds or authority, know that we are here to help you figure out what to report and to whom. We are a new kind of Veterans Service Organization (VSO) dedicated to helping you obtain justice.
