Upon the release of Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2022, one former whistleblower says that protections for those who expose corruption are deficient.
Jeff Morris paints a grim picture for any person thinking of blowing the whistle: it’ll ruin your life.
“Take it from me, the retaliation is absolutely massive,” Morris told The Mandarin.
“You will never work again in your chosen career, you’ll be driven out of the industry, as I was and as every other whistleblower has been.”
He added that many whistleblowers suffer personal costs, not just professional ones.
“Most whistleblowers wind up with a diagnosis of PTSD, as I was. Most whistleblowers who have a family lose the family, as I did temporarily,” Morrison said to The Mandarin after being named a Member of the Order of Australia (OAM).
When he worked for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Morris blew the whistle on “unbelievable practices” going on in the financial planning division.
Morris anonymously sent information about his concerns to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) in 2008.
“[ASIC] had allowed the whole sector to run out of control.
“I became aware of it because I reported what was going to ASIC and they did nothing,” Morris said.
A frustrated Morris then took his concerns to the media. The article on ASIC’s inaction was published in 2013 by Nine’s (then Fairfax’s) Adele Ferguson.
Morris did not initially plan to go outside the established complaints channel —...
Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP advises Vistagen Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: VTGN) investors that the firm is investigating potential legal claims arising from alleged false statements about Vi...