Press Release
Washington, D.C. (October 15, 2019) - FEDS Protection and the Whistleblowers of America are proud
to announce a new partnership to educate the federal community about whistleblowing.
Federal employees who make the decision to report what is reasonably believed
to be a violation of law or evidence of mismanagement, fraud or abuse, must
understand the process, protections, and enormous risk to their careers and
personal lives before making the decision to do so.
In so many instances, employees do not consciously think of
themselves as a whistleblower or engaged in protected activity when reporting
what he or she believes to be mismanagement, abuse, waste or fraud to a
supervisor. Moreover, the supervisors
often don’t recognize this as "whistleblowing” or as a "protected activity” which
requires a continuous process improvement response. Instead it becomes
adversarial, leaving the supervisor vulnerable to complaints of whistleblower
retaliation. "This disconnect or lack of awareness can stretch far and wide
embroiling entire offices in a disruptive and adversarial environment”, said
Tony Vergnetti, the President and Founder of FEDS Protection. FEDS Protection provides professional
liability insurance which is available to all federal employees as a result of
the unique professional exposures only federal employees face. "We deal with real people, every single day,
at all levels of government, who are just trying to do the very best in their
mission to serve our country. Unfortunately, employees and managers alike are
often blindsided by the disruption these matters can cause. We at FEDS believe that education and respect
is key.”
Civil servants who are engaged in whistleblowing activity aren’t
generally lauded as heroes or patriots, at least initially, in these cases. They
are very often ostracized as liars, traitors, and troublemakers. Jacqueline Garrick, the founder of
Whistleblowers of America, never considered herself a whistleblower when she
made the decision to report what she perceived to be a conflict of interest
over the suicide prevention funds and contracts at the Department of
Defense. This decision took her on a
journey she never expected. "I never
thought of myself as a whistleblower, nor did I have any idea that my desire to
right a wrong would be so life altering”, adding, "the stigma and retaliation
is unbelievably overwhelming. I founded
the Whistleblowers of America because I know, firsthand, that if you choose to
speak up, you need evidence, and a strong and solid foundation of support as
you could be facing the hardest fought years of your life, both professionally
and personally.”
It is the mission of both FEDS Protection and the
Whistleblowers of America to protect federal employees at all levels and their
fierce determination to do so is strengthened by their desire to educate the
federal community together. "FEDS
Protection was founded on a platform of education”, says Tony Vergnetti,” and "our
partnership with Jackie and the Whistleblowers of America further this
important interest for the entire federal community as new threats, increased
workloads, new technology and political demands grow.”
For additional information:
Brenda Wilson
Director, Federal Employee & Contractor Programs
FEDS Protection
brenda@fedsprotection.com
Direct Line: (301) 284-8891
Whistleblowers of America
https://whistleblowersofamerica.org/contact-us/