Whistleblower Ed Bricker

Note: The whistleblower, a person who reveals wrongdoing in business, government or elsewhere, usually has temporary celebrity of a very fleeting time. A few such people, however, extend their celebrity somewhat by joining the speaker's circuit. Once in a while, a whistleblower comes out of the initial period of turmoil well, but too often these individuals are viewed as snitches, traitors and troublemakers. All to often their lives are made very difficult, their careers ruined. Many are threatened with violence, and occasionally, one is even killed.

Ed Bricker is an example of the person who blew the whistle about unsafe practices in plants that deal in radioactive materials. In the mid 1980s, he began complaining to his bosses about radiation leaks, unsafe storage tanks and worn out equipment at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Seattle. The plant was an old one, which had been closed in the 1970s, then re-opened in 1983 during the Reagan administration. The material involved was plutonium.

Getting no satisfaction from management, Bricker contacted government investigators in 1986, and in the following year did interviews with newspapers and television. He also continued complaining to his bosses.

As so frequently happens when employees are not meek "team players," Bricker was harassed, required to see a psychologist, and given harsh performance reviews. On one occasion,he reported that someone tampered with his safety equipment, as well, which could have been fatal for him.