Bay Area employees may be able to recall a situation in which they had to decide to speak up about a problem in the workplace. In some situations, a supervisor or employer may not want to deal with the issue properly, and may want to prevent other employees or the public from finding out. People who speak up might be considered whistleblowers, and many fear retaliation.
Recently, two such whistleblowers are asking the public to dig a little deeper before people consider air travel. These two people, who have not disclosed their identity for fear that they will lose their jobs, say that, on some occasions, even when they found a problem with safety on a particular plane or airline, they were stifled. These individuals were safety inspectors for the FAA, tasked with making sure planes and their airlines are keeping up with safety standards and regulations.
They say that air travel is not as safe as advertisers and airlines make it seem, and both individuals were able to recount instances where a known problem was swept under the rug by higher-ups. On at least one of these occasions, the anonymous whistleblower was removed from doing any further inspections for a particular airline and warned by supervisors to drop the issue, even after various safety issues were pointed out. These brave whistleblowers fear that the public is at risk if airplane inspections are not taken seriously.
If a Bay Area employee feels that he or she cannot perform his or her job duties without coming forward about serious issues, he or she may fear retaliation. There are some laws in place that help protect whistleblowers from retaliation or fear of losing a good job. On many occasions, an experienced attorney can help an employee hold his or her employer legally responsible for his or her mistreatment in the workplace.
