Editor:
Re: Kanakos would like a policy to support whistleblowers, Sept. 6
Your article about the call for a "made in Delta" whistleblower policy that could protect civic employees brought up memories of my own experience.
I communicated a concern as a hospital employee about a rat problem. It was part of my job description to keep an eye open' for potential pest problems and document them so a note was left on a supervisor’s desk at the end of my shift. When I returned for my next shift, the note was held out to me by a manager who asked, "Did you write this?" I looked at it and said, "Yes, it was about rats I saw jumping up on the service bay area."
I was then told that I was in a lot of trouble.
My note, it seemed, was a contravention of a signed confidentiality statement that anything I see or hear while on the job is private and confidential.
CBC reporters picked up on the story and I was broadcast across the continent as a whistleblower. It was the media exposure that kept me from being fired.
So speaking from experience, I would suggest civic employees’ confidentiality clauses be looked into before drawing up plans for whistleblowing protection.
Brian Britten
