1980s-2000s

John Michael Gravitt
John Gravitt worked for GE Electric as a machinist after coming back from the Vietnam War. As he continued to work at GE, he was eventually promoted to foreman. Being foreman, the big wigs at the company began to increasingly place more responsibilities on him. One of the things they asked him to do is to comply with falsifying financial reports in order obtain more money from the federal government. For a while, Gravitt went along with this plan. As time went on, though, he realized how unjust GE's actions were. Gravitt wrote a 60-page letter complaining about the unjust actions they were taking, and was fired. Upon digging into options, Cincinnati lawyer James B. Helmer rediscovered the False Claims Act of 1863, in which persons who report an act of fraud can collect up to 25% court award. A year after filing the False Claims Act, the Justice Department and GE came to an agreement to settle for just a portion of what Gravitt's lawyer said they owe and would maintain that they are not guilty. Cincinnati's federal judge rejected this proposal, and gave the Justice Department a slap on the wrist for failure to completely investigate the claim. Finally, GE settled in 1989 for (reportedly) $4.7 million. After Gravitt testified in Congress, the False Claims Act was amended to grant whistleblowers more power and protection. (Woo, Elaine).

Duncan Edmonds
Edmonds was a Canadian civil servant, working for Defense Minister Robert Coates. He found out that Coates had been going to German strip clubs while on duty, and even brought NATO documents with him while visiting these places. Coates was even found to be leaving these top secret documents around, which created a huge security risk. Edmonds reported this to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who asked Coates to resign and fired Edmonds. While Coates was able to remain in Parliament, Edmonds had been blacklisted (persona non grata) from the Canadian government. (M., Morris.)

Ronald J. Goldstein
Goldstein, a supervisor at EBASCO, discovered safety concerns regarding noncompliance with safety procedures, negligence in issuing safety compliance reports, and violations of quality control violations. He reported this to the SAFETEAM in the summer of 1985, as they are an outlet for employees to voice their concerns/complaints. After reporting to the SAFETEAM, Goldstein was fired. After being fired, he filed under the federal nuclear whistleblowers statues. Department of Labor declared that Goldstein's complaints to the e SAFETEAM were protected by the whistleblower statutes. Furthermore, EBASCO had no right to fire Goldstein for complaining. Despite all of that, the ruling was overturned by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals because private programs do not offer protection to whistleblowers. Even though Goldstein lost, his case prompted Congress to amend the federal nuclear whistleblower law to provide protection reports and prevent retaliation. ("1985: Ronald J. Goldstein")

Mordechai Vanunu
Mordechai Vanunu worked at Israel's nuclear reactor at Dimona until 1985, and took pictures of the facility before he left. Vanunu traveled through Asia to reach Sydney, while carrying the photos as evidence of what was going on. The British Press found out, checked the photos and information he had, and published a story on it. In light of that, Vanunu was drugged, kidnapped, and taken back to Israel where he was tried for espionage. Vanunu was sentenced to 18 years in prison, in which more than 11 of those years he spent in solitary confinement. Even after serving his time in jail, Vanunu cannot leave the country and Israel imposed restrictions on his speech. In 2005, he was charged with violating his restrictions by interviewing with foreign press and is now banned from use of internet devices.

Myron Mehlman
Mehlman was a trained toxicologist and worked at Mobile as the manager of Environmental Health and Science Laboratory. He was labeled as an international toxicology expert, and before bringing up a major issue was regarded as a top employee. In 1989 Mehlman was discharged by Mobile after warning managers that Mobile's gasoline being sold in Japan had benzine in excess of 5%. Melhan was fired by the company, but later successfully sued Mobile. (“Mehlman v. Mobil Oil Corporation.”)

Andre Cicolella
Cicolella worked at the National Institute for Research and Security (INRS) working on researching the effects that glycol ethers have on health. He worked on an eight-year research program that he created and organized to be accomplished in time for an international symposium in April 1994. A week before the symposium, he released the findings of his research which found that the exposure to glycol ethers causes fetal malformations. He was fired for voicing his findings, and restricted from presenting at the symposium. 4 years later, in 1998, it was confirmed that his findings were correct. (“André Cicolella.”)

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“1985: Ronald J. Goldstein.” Whistleblower.org, Government Accountability Project, whistleblower.org/timeline/1985-ronald-j-goldstein/.

“André Cicolella.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Nov. 2019, fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Cicolella.

“List of Whistleblowers.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Mar. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_whistleblowers.

M., Morris. “9 Heroes Screwed Over By The System.” Listverse, 21 June 2014, listverse.com/2013/06/19/9-heroes-screwed-over-by-the-system/.

“Mehlman v. Mobil Oil Corporation.” Justia Law, Supreme Court of New Jersey, 1998, law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/supreme-court/1998/a-5-97-opn.html.

Woo, Elaine. “John G. Gravitt; His Suit Against GE Eased Path for Reporting Fraud.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2001, www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-mar-08-me-35093-story.html.