We’ve worked helping whistleblowers bring forward information about fraud and misconduct for many years. When we tell people what we do, most people think about a movie they’ve seen or a story they’ve read–Enron. Madoff. Big Tobacco. Dirty cops. Whistleblowing is high-stakes drama, so no wonder Hollywood has made these real-life stories into blockbuster entertainment.
One can be forgiven for getting the impression that a whistleblower is a mythical creature of sorts, a person predestined for the righteous cause. Truth is, that’s usually not the case. We’ve worked with hundreds of whistleblowers over the years and they are just everyday people–so everyday, in fact, they could be you or me. This is important to know, because if we think of a whistleblower as “someone else,” we might miss wrongdoing right under our nose that could lead to someone’s death, rob us of our tax dollars, or lead to the next banking crisis or economic catastrophe.
Here are some examples of people people with everyday jobs, like most of us, who became whistleblowers–saving lives, and in some cases, netting a lot of money in compensation for bravely doing what they did. All of these stories are true. None of these whistleblowers’ stories were made into movies. There were no parades or fanfare. But they matter just as much, nonetheless. And by understanding their stories, you just might see yourself in one of them.
A laboratory technician at a medical clinic was just doing her job when...
On Friday, April 10, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) has agreed to pay just over $17 million to resolve allegations that ...