Other Sources of Advice and Support to Scientists and Engineers with Ethical Concerns
Advice
- IEEE Guidelines for Engineers Dissenting on Ethical Grounds
- From the Ethics Committee of the Institute of
Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)11/11/96. The goal of these guidelines
is to provide general advice to engineers, including
engineering managers, who find themselves in conflicts with
management over matters with ethical implications. Much of
this advice is pertinent to more general conflicts within
organizations.
The 2002 revision of this document removes the second paragraph of section 9 of the Guidelines, which discusses the role of professional societies in supporting their members.
- NSPE Ethics in Employment Task Force Report developed by The National Society of Professional Engineers - NSPE.
- This report emphasizes the right and the obligation of engineers to raise ethical concerns in the workplace, and provides guidance on how best to raise such issues. It also guides companies that want to guarantee a working environment where employees can feel free to raise concerns.
- The Whistleblower Program and Whistleblower Investigations Manual (manual will download a PDF)
- The Occupational Safety and Health Act enforces 14 statutes regarding whistleblower protection. This website provides links to all 14 statutes as well as regulations and the Whistleblower Investigations Manual, which contains procedures for investigations of discrimination complaints
Groups that may offer help on cases that fall within their domain
- Government Accountability Project
- This is a nonprofit organization that protects whistleblowers employed by the federal government and government regulated industries. Its work concentrates on the activities of the U.S. Department of Energy and its contractors; the U.S. Department of Agriculture and food suppliers; and the Forestry Service and the timber industry.
- IEEE Ethics and Member Conduct Committee
- A committee which makes recommendations for policies and/or educational programs to promote the ethical behavior of members and staff, and shall consider instituting proceedings, as defined in IEEE Bylaws I-110 and I-111, related to matters of member and officer discipline and requests for support.
- Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)
- A nonprofit organization that protects federal, state, and local government employees who protect the environment. PEER works with and on behalf of resource professionals - scientists, land managers, law enforcement officers, and other professionals - to effect fundamental change in the way their agencies conduct the public's business. Specifically, PEER provides an avenue for employees to anonymously report and publicize agency malfeasance. PEER also provides legal representation to whistleblowers.
- Taxpayers Against Fraud (TAF)
- A nonprofit organization chartered to assist individuals with original information about financial fraud in the form of false and fraudulent claims for payment submitted by private entities to the federal government. The False Claims Act -see the TAF Web site-provides that whistleblowers may seek damages on behalf of the government and keep a portion of any funds recovered. It also provides a right to a jury trial in federal court for individuals who suffer retaliation as a result of disclosing their employers false claims.
- Workplace Fairness
- A new organization founded to assist individuals, both employed and unemployed, in understanding, enforcing, and expanding their rights in the workplace. Workplace Fairness is targeted to meet the needs of employees who cannot afford the services of a private attorney. To meet these needs, Workplace Fairness will provide information, facilitate access to employment advocates, litigate cases that have a potentially broad impact, and promote public policy and legislation to advance employee rights.
- Practical information for whistleblowers on a variety of topics (this site may contain popup ads)
Other oversight agencies of which you may want to be aware
- The Project LAW (Project On Liberty and the Workplace) See the site map for a listing of topics.
- A public interest law firm devoted to advancing and defending the civil rights and liberties of individuals and community groups that are threatened by powerful institutions. Litigation is the primary tool that they use to promote progressive change. Project LAW is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has a second office in Seattle, Washington. Their practice is nationwide.
- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- Offers public and private sector employees remedies for discrimination and retaliation in employment. The EEOC administers a statutory scheme which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, national origin, age, and handicap.
- The U.S. Merit System Protection Board
- Originally chartered to administer the Civil Service Reform Act and the Whistleblower Protection Act Through the latter statute, the MSPB provides appeal rights for most federal employees who believe that they have suffered retaliation on the job for disclosing their agencies' misconduct.
- The U.S. Department of Labor
- Administers the employee protectve provisions of a number statutes among them the Energy Reorganization Act, the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, the Toxic Substances Control Act that offer remedies to individuals who have suffered retaliation for making disclosures about their employers violations of federal environmental law and policy. Many complaints are resolved after an administrative investigation. For those that are not, hearings are available through DOL's Office of Administrative Law Judges.
Sources of basic legal information and legal services
- Employment Law Information Network
- This site is designed for lawyers concentrating in employment law with federal and state law resource and for human resource professionals who specialize in employee relations.
- National Employment Lawyers Association
- Information on employment law offered in an on-line plain English encyclopedia of legal information. Providing employee assistance as follows:
- Workplace Fairness Volunteers
- Over 50 individuals from across the nation have volunteered their time and efforts to help Workplace Fairness achieve its goals of helping employees to understand, enforce, and expand their rights at work. They are both an advisory group and a working group, currently organized around the following initial Workplace Fairness projects. The Workplace Fairness Clearinghouse provides information and assistance to employees regarding their employment rights and legal protections. The Clearinghouse includes a public education component to inform individuals and organizations about employee rights in general, with the goal of increasing knowledge of rights and how to enforce them. Impact Litigation. Litigation of key cases to advance the rights of individual employees where no other national organization will assist and where the result will have a broad benefit accruing to many workers. The Law School Clinic Project seeks to increase the availability of legal assistance to individuals with employment problems by fostering the development of new employment law advocates. The Clinic Project combines the most effective aspects of existing programs and encourages law schools to implement the "model" program developed.