I could go on about the different ways their contracts, state and federal laws were violated. The bottom line is that there is a definite violation, and had the Department looked at this situation as it had at other firms in the public, there would have been hefty fines.
Yet, in this situation, this is internal fraud. Here you have one part of the agency showing a heavy hand of the law on businesses. Over this little thing we call an “employer-employee relationship,” the Department has taken huge legal action to “educate” businesses on their “reporting requirements.” And yet, internally, it has turned a blind eye and not upheld the same standards.
I knew too much from my prior position. I had the knowledge, I knew it was wrong, and I was given a choice: remain silent or speak up. If I remained silent, I wouldn't make any waves and I would still have a place on the team. If I spoke up, however, I might even jeopardize the contractors' positions. If I spoke up, they could get targeted and even black-balled from other agencies.
I had to weigh the consequences. By not speaking up, I would be allowing the Department to spit in the face of taxpayers, business owners and contractors. By not speaking up, I would be allowing them to continue to abuse contractors and continue on in hypocrisy and misuse of taxpayer funds.
By speaking up, I might even lose my own job. I had to decide what price I would put on ethics. I decided to speak up.
I am now in a different unit, still meeting with internal auditors and investigators, and still seeking employment in the private sector (to get out of politics). I have kept my word and not gone to the press yet. I am waiting to see if the process will work.
I write this anonymously under a pen name because I must keep silent from where I am at now. There is heavy retaliation against me. My reputation has been slandered and marred. Many false allegations have been brought up against me and many awful (and untrue) rumors have been spread about me.
This is what happens when you speak up for truth. It is unpleasant and very difficult to walk through. In the end, however, I feel victory.
I'm a soldier in the War on Ethics here at home. Because of soldiers like me who work behind-the-scenes and take a stand for integrity, our government has not gone completely corrupt.
The minute good people stop taking a stand for what is right, however, and turn a blind eye to things like this… well, that is when you begin to lose your freedoms here at home. Your freedoms will not be gone in the blink of an eye. Rather, our country is like a frog being boiled slowly over time. We do not realize our freedoms have been snatched from us until it's too late. Too many people feared their own retirement and paycheck, too many people were silent, and too many simply gave up.
Are you willing to fight the good fight? Are you willing to take your place in our ranks? State and Federal government is in need of a few good men and women. When the cost is high and you could lose it all, are you willing to lay down your life? My husband and countless others do this every day in the military. Yet, we creatures of comfort are so unwilling to go the same length in our workplace when the bloodshed is political and not physical.
Come fight the unseen fight with me. The War on Ethics rages on.
