May 2024: Celebrating the whistleblowers risking everything to make the world safer
IMPACT: U.S. agency inspects, refuses shrimp imports following TSN-supported whistleblower’s disclosures
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has begun refusing shrimp imports from Choice Canning Company, after tests showed recent shipments were laced with veterinary drugs.
The refusal follows a March 20 investigation by The Outlaw Ocean Project which revealed evidence of potential food safety, human rights and labor abuses at Choice Canning’s shrimp processing factory in Amalapuram, India. The investigation was based on the well-documented disclosures of a brave U.S. whistleblower, Joshua Farinella, who worked until recently as the factory’s general manager.
The Signals Network (TSN) represents Farinella and has assisted him to file formal whistleblower reports with FDA; Customs and Border Protection; and various U.S. federal agencies and members of Congress.
“Without Joshua Farinella, contaminated shrimp would be on the shelves of U.S. supermarkets right now,” said TSN Legal Director Jennifer Gibson. “We can’t just rely on government for checks and balances. We also need whistleblowers to help hold powerful companies accountable. Without them, we’re all less safe.”
Boeing says it should ‘celebrate’ its whistleblowers. Help us do so as more come forward
After recent allegations of retaliation and the deaths of two high-profile whistleblowers, Boeing continues to face mounting public pressure as additional whistleblowers come forward about safety and manufacturing lapses.
While the FAA launched a new investigation into Boeing based on more whistleblower revelations, Scott Stocker, vice president and general manager of the company’s 787 program, urged employees in an April 29 memo to “celebrate” the employee who blew the whistle.
Stocker is right. Boeing should celebrate these whistleblowers for keeping us safe, but they should do more than just celebrate them. They should listen and act. Actions speak louder than words and by all accounts, until recently, whistleblowers inside Boeing were not celebrated. Had Boeing acted earlier on the internal alarms that were being raised, lives may have been saved.
See you at IRE & IACC!
TSN will be presenting at two conferences in June.
Firstly, TSN Legal Director Jennifer Gibson will speak on a panel titled “The Lived experience of whistleblowers and partnerships to advance whistleblowers’ rights and protections” with Globaleaks, Transparency International and WIN at the International Anti-Corruption Conference in Vilnius, Lithuania on Wednesday, June 19 starting at 3:30 p.m. local time.
Secondly, TSN Executive Director Delphine Halgand-Mishra will moderate a panel titled “How can we prepare for AI whistleblowers?” with Associated Press journalist Garance Burke and Theranos whistleblower Erika Cheung at the Investigative Reporters and Editors Conference in Anaheim, California on Saturday, June 22 at 4:15 p.m. local time.
For updates on both events, follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook!
If you plan to be at either of these conferences, please let us know!
We hope to see you there.
Last call for a legal fellow…
As part of our growing Whistleblower Protection Program, we’re seeking a year-long full time Legal Fellow starting this fall. Know anyone who might be interested? Send them this link and make sure they apply soon!
Whistleblower News Roundup
— President Donald Trump’s campaign has used his well-known bullying tactics to launch private, relentless attacks against some of its own workers, reports Marilyn W. Thompson for ProPublica.
— A whistleblower has revealed that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “wasted critical time” gathering data in the days immediately following last year’s catastrophic derailment of a train in East Palestine, Ohio, report Alex Presha and Jeremy Edwards for ABC News.
— In a special report for ProPublica and The New Yorker, Sharon Lerner uncovers how 3M executives used gaslighting to convince a scientist that the forever chemicals she found in human blood were safe despite her growing concerns.
P.S. … Do you have a friend or colleague who is interested in holding power to account?
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