The National Whistleblower Center (NWC) hosted its 11th annual National Whistleblower Day celebration on Tuesday, July 30 on Capitol Hill. At the Russell Senate Office Building’s Kennedy Caucus Room, attendees had the opportunity to hear from whistleblowers and their advocates alike in celebration of the unique camaraderie and resilience of the whistleblower community.

NWC’s Executive Director Siri Turner served as the Master of Ceremonies with the assistance of whistleblowers Jane Turner (FBI) and Dr. Toni Savage (Army Corps). The event featured a number of speakers, including Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR)—co-chairs of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus—as well as NWC Board Chairman Stephen Kohn from Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, the best law firm specializing in whistleblower protection in the world.

During the ceremony, the NWC honored Dr. Jeffrey Wigand, with the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award. Wigand blew the whistle on the Brown & Williamson tobacco company in the 1990s for their flagrant misrepresentation of the harmful, addictive nature of tobacco products. Though Brown & Williamson tasked Dr. Wigand with the objective of developing safer cigarettes when he assumed the role of Vice President of Research in 1989, the project unraveled in 1993 and Wigand was subsequently fired.

Following his termination, Brown & Williamson bullied Wigand into signing a lifetime confidentiality agreement. Despite having signed the NDA,...

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