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The emotional strain of being a whistleblower and having your colleagues now see you as the enemy is not something I’ve read about, but it must take a toll. A w

The emotional strain of being a whistleblower and having your colleagues now see you as the enemy is not something I’ve read about, but it must take a toll. A whistleblower, almost by definition, is a hero to strangers and a villain to those they know and work with. Or he was simply executed like in many corporate espionage movies.

aurareturn 3y ago
I can't imagine that he would go through all this, and then decide it's not worth it anymore at the very end of his testimony.
- asystole 3y ago
  People under extreme mental stress tend not to act rationally.
  - MarcoZavala 3y ago
    [dead]
  - lukan 3y ago
    Yeah, some things you can only imagine, if you experience them. Still, people murdered for way less.
  - whitepaint 3y ago
    Yet, in this case, aurareturn's comment seems way more plausible than yours.
cm2187 3y ago
Don't know anything about this guy, so just speculating, but I can easily see having a self-destructing behaviour being correlated with becoming a whistleblower since it is usually done at great personal expenses.
a-french-anon 3y ago
Subject of the amazing movie The Insider (1999), I might add for interested people.
wkat4242 3y ago
> The emotional strain of being a whistleblower and having your colleagues now see you as the enemy is not something I’ve read about, but it must take a toll. A whistleblower, almost by definition, is a hero to strangers and a villain to those they know and work with. Hmm I don't know, if I were a whistleblower I wouldn't really care what my colleagues would think. And I'd probably not continue working there anyway. After all I'd hate the company and my colleagues for all the wrongdoing that was the whole reason for the whistleblowing in the first place. Of course people react very differently. And I'm very much not a team player so I'm pretty insensitive to peer pressure. I'm sorry that this person felt so bad. > Or he was simply executed like in many corporate espionage movies. When there's billions in market value on the line I don't think this possibility can be overlooked, no. I don't think it would have happened here but I don't think it's impossible
- datadrivenangel 3y ago
  Barnett spent 32 years at Boeing. This would be like everyone you've ever worked with in your career being against you.
- JohnBooty 3y ago
  Hmm I don't know, if I were a whistleblower I wouldn't really care what my colleagues would think. Also, many of his colleagues probably admire him. They are also aware of the problems and presumably want them fixed. I gather that whistleblower claims are generally about systemic and management issues, and not "Bob from accounting is a stupid idiot."
dfxm12 3y ago
The emotional strain of being a whistleblower and having your colleagues now see you as the enemy This is a problem. Would you really see a whistleblower as your enemy? Is your identity so intertwined with your job that you take legal action against your employers so personally? Do you think your employer has that much loyalty to you? Boeing just had layoffs in December. I'm sure the issues this guy was uncovering played a part in that. We should all hold our bosses accountable. If they mess up, it's going to be bad for us.
- mrguyorama 3y ago
  >We should all hold our bosses accountable And how are we supposed to do that? The entire point of a corporation's structure is that power flows exclusively down.
  - geysersam 3y ago
    Luckily corporations are not the only structures in society. Courts, unions, citizens rights and democratically elected parliaments exist to counterbalance the incentives of the rich.
    - lainga 3y ago
      But not to give you health insurance.
      - WalterBright 3y ago
        Employer health insurance got its start in WW2 when Roosevelt instituted wage freezes. Shipping companies could not raise wages to attract more workers, so they raised wages indirectly by offering health insurance.
    - abeppu 3y ago
      ... except the rich can hire enough lawyers to use the courts as a weapon, and in the US, campaign contributions or other rewards for compliant politicians can mean that legislatures are often on the side of corporate interests.

aurareturn 3y ago

I can't imagine that he would go through all this, and then decide it's not worth it anymore at the very end of his testimony.

asystole 3y ago
People under extreme mental stress tend not to act rationally.
- MarcoZavala 3y ago
  [dead]
- lukan 3y ago
  Yeah, some things you can only imagine, if you experience them. Still, people murdered for way less.
- whitepaint 3y ago
  Yet, in this case, aurareturn's comment seems way more plausible than yours.

cm2187 3y ago

Don't know anything about this guy, so just speculating, but I can easily see having a self-destructing behaviour being correlated with becoming a whistleblower since it is usually done at great personal expenses.

a-french-anon 3y ago

Subject of the amazing movie The Insider (1999), I might add for interested people.

wkat4242 3y ago

> The emotional strain of being a whistleblower and having your colleagues now see you as the enemy is not something I’ve read about, but it must take a toll. A whistleblower, almost by definition, is a hero to strangers and a villain to those they know and work with. Hmm I don't know, if I were a whistleblower I wouldn't really care what my colleagues would think. And I'd probably not continue working there anyway. After all I'd hate the company and my colleagues for all the wrongdoing that was the whole reason for the whistleblowing in the first place. Of course people react very differently. And I'm very much not a team player so I'm pretty insensitive to peer pressure. I'm sorry that this person felt so bad. > Or he was simply executed like in many corporate espionage movies. When there's billions in market value on the line I don't think this possibility can be overlooked, no. I don't think it would have happened here but I don't think it's impossible

datadrivenangel 3y ago
Barnett spent 32 years at Boeing. This would be like everyone you've ever worked with in your career being against you.
JohnBooty 3y ago
Hmm I don't know, if I were a whistleblower I wouldn't really care what my colleagues would think. Also, many of his colleagues probably admire him. They are also aware of the problems and presumably want them fixed. I gather that whistleblower claims are generally about systemic and management issues, and not "Bob from accounting is a stupid idiot."

dfxm12 3y ago

The emotional strain of being a whistleblower and having your colleagues now see you as the enemy This is a problem. Would you really see a whistleblower as your enemy? Is your identity so intertwined with your job that you take legal action against your employers so personally? Do you think your employer has that much loyalty to you? Boeing just had layoffs in December. I'm sure the issues this guy was uncovering played a part in that. We should all hold our bosses accountable. If they mess up, it's going to be bad for us.

mrguyorama 3y ago
>We should all hold our bosses accountable And how are we supposed to do that? The entire point of a corporation's structure is that power flows exclusively down.
- geysersam 3y ago
  Luckily corporations are not the only structures in society. Courts, unions, citizens rights and democratically elected parliaments exist to counterbalance the incentives of the rich.
  - lainga 3y ago
    But not to give you health insurance.
    - WalterBright 3y ago
      Employer health insurance got its start in WW2 when Roosevelt instituted wage freezes. Shipping companies could not raise wages to attract more workers, so they raised wages indirectly by offering health insurance.
  - abeppu 3y ago
    ... except the rich can hire enough lawyers to use the courts as a weapon, and in the US, campaign contributions or other rewards for compliant politicians can mean that legislatures are often on the side of corporate interests.