So people were still doing things, but not so publicly… They were doing it slightly more discreetly… (Francis 2013a, p.236)
Nurse Donnelly resigned from her job in Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust some time after she had faced out her fears of retaliation. Staying in or returning to their job is not something that many NHS whistleblowers get to do, whatever their wish. Dr Phil Hammond, an England-based registered medical doctor and journalist, has supported many NHS whistleblowers since 1992. None has returned to their job or previous employment (Hammond 2015). It took Dr Stephen Bolsin, the consultant anaesthetist at the Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) who raised concerns about death rates of children undergoing heart surgery, six years to get his concerns heard and to see a drop in mortality rates. Bolsin became the butt of considerable hostility from consultant paediatric surgeons at the BRI; his concerns were ignored until he took these to the media.
THE SMELL OF SALEM
When retaliation is significant, the whistleblower pays what (Alford 2001, p.10) said were ‘…the terrible costs of going up against the organization, costs most of us are not even aware of because they are not apparent until one crosses an invisible line’. The whistleblower may find themselves subjected to small, individually minor, but collectively destructive acts of victimization in the aftermath of their raising concerns. These can become witch hunts with the smell of Salem about them.
The US Government Accountability Project (GAP), an American non-profit, non-partisan, public interest law firm that has provided legal representation to many US whistleblowers, including Edward Snowden, commented that, ‘The uglier the tactic, the more effective it is at silencing critics and scaring off anyone else who might challenge abuses of power’ (Devine and Devine 2010, p.7). Pernicious silencing tactics include bringing conflict of interests charges against the whistleblower – for example:
•alleging the whistleblower was doing the very same act that they are complaining about
•raiding the whistleblower’s home to seize computers and electronic devices
•telling the whistleblower they must remain silent
•attempting prosecution for alleged false statements solely based on hearsay allegation by a mediator sworn to confidentiality
•unsupported allegations of mental illness, revenge, depression, drug misuse
•prolonged garden leave
•blacklisting and whispering campaigns of many years’ duration
•classifying information years after the fact and then charging the whistleblower post hoc with disclosure of sensitive information
•the ‘smokescreen syndrome’ (kicking up sand about an unrelated and irrelevant matter to take attention away from the disclosure).
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