This article is free because it’s important.
Earlier today, I published a framework for helping whistleblowers like myself who face unrelenting retaliation online. I am devastated to report we lost one of our own last weekend.
John Barnett and I crossed paths more than once at whistleblower- focused events we've attended.
He seemed burdened by the weight of whistleblowing, but no more than anyone else I've met at these functions.
We all carry the weight of the truths we've chosen to champion. You can tell just by walking into a room with us that we've seen and been through the same sort of hell.
I suppose I looked particularly burdened last year, because he made it a point to give me a pep talk. He told me about Boeing, and said not to let “those people” get to me.
He said something similar years earlier.
“When you’re beat down every day, you start questioning your own sanity,” John told a reporter in 2019.
“I think it’s critical that people reach out and get support they need, because this is a very hard battle. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve stayed awake at night pacing the floor, trying to figure out what to do, and how to do it.”
John committed suicide Saturday, in the middle of litigation against Boeing.
At this point, there is no reported suspicion of foul play.
As whistleblowers, we know better than anyone the unique dangers and steep emotional, mental and physical cost of being truth tellers.
We have an implicit connection, and a duty to each other to be better than those who persecute us.
Have we been keeping the unspoken promise to our fellow whistleblowers?
I failed John. I could have followed up more. I could have checked in. I didn't, partly because I was drowning in my own fight. I had no idea he was drowning, too.
When someone in our community is drowning, we should be a lifeboat or at least a life preserver to keep them from going under.
Often, we fail on this mission.
In John's case, that failure cannot be undone.
For Theranos whistleblower Ian Gibbons, the failure cannot be undone. He, too, committed suicide during litigation.
The failure cannot be undone for Steven Luke, Valentin Broeksmit, John Clifford Baxter, David Kelly, and a haunting and long list of others.
Whether we've been consumed by our own fights, understandably wary of strangers, or simply disinterested in expending time and resources, we have to do better.
We must do better.
Even if there's no personal gain, no monetary reward, no self-serving advantage, we must do better.
We are allowing our community to be intimidated and silenced by bad actors, yielding to the onslaught of targeted attacks often accompanying our bravery.
No one else will help us. In our darkest hour, whistleblowers should serve as the light for others to find their way to shore.
I have been guilty of the very same failures more than once.
I am extending my own hand to those who find themselves drowning.
I promise to do better so long as I'm still on this earth.
I call on other whistleblowers and the organizations who purport to support us to do the same.
This is just too tragic. The cruelty of those who would deliberately try to destroy someone is beyond my comprehension. I am just so so sorry and I hope and pray that you will stay strong and grounded and get help when you need it for yourself and your family.
The guilty are good at making the innocent feel guilty The pressure can become so great you question your own reality. I've been there and your veracity and loyalty are called into question. Some people break. Oddly, I didn't and upper management fired the one pressuring me to approve an unsafe design. I was not the technical expert, but knew something was "off." Those over you can apply extra pressure when you know something's wrong, but you can't prove why. They hold the cards.