Beautiful Souls: The Courage and Conscience of Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times Highlight

“Among the whistleblowers I worked with, a little over two-thirds lost their jobs,” wrote Alford. “Most lost their houses. Many lost their families.” Depression and alcoholism were common; so was bankruptcy. It was different for employees with high seniority or rank, some might assume. But studies showed it wasn’t different. Nor were the consequences less dire for government workers who were able to present their allegations in federal court, notwithstanding legislation passed by Congress to protect them from reprisal. “Whistleblowers have won only four of almost ten thousand cases to reach the federal courts under the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989,” wrote Alford. He told the story of a worker who spent $100,000 to get a federal judge to hear her case. “I had my day in court, only it wasn’t a day, but a few minutes,” she told Alford. “The judge said I didn’t have standing to sue, and I was back on the street a hundred thousand dollars poorer.”