Steven Doran and Glenn Walp, two whistleblowers who were fired after exposing financial corruption at top-secret Los Alamos National Laboratory in California, were vindicated this Thursday, January 30, when the U.S. Department of Energy declared the company's actions "incomprehensible." The uncovered fraud cost five top managers their jobs, and brought some members of Congress to rethink how the lab should be run. However, even with their vindication, Doran and Walp have not been reinstated.
"It's a momentary triumph, but a long-term disaster," says Robert Hogan, Ph.D., president of Hogan Assessment Systems in Tulsa, Oklahoma. While honesty may be right, the consequences are often dramatic. Those who get tattled on may receive less punishment than those who tattle. "Given the current economy, losing your job could be catastrophic. People are reticent to whistle blow," says Susan Seidman, Ph.D., a psychologist in Westchester, New York.
