Ep 87 Amy Block Joy: Embezzlement & Whistleblowing

"I opened up the file folder to see what was in it…..she was practicing my signature. Her forgery of my signature was so authentic, it was scary."  Embezzlement. Forgery. Fraud. Imagine these things were happening in your $13M program of federal money to help the poor.  Imagine you went to your boss to turn in the "bad guys." Surely, he would be on your side. Wrong. In this case, Dr. Amy Block Joy had no idea how high up the deception was happening at UC Davis, but she knew one thing...she needed to sleep at night. Doing the right thing was the only solution that gave her peace. On today's podcast, she shares the turn of events that led her to find herself as a whistleblower, what it cost her, how she maintained courage through demoralizing retaliation and solid advice to those who might find themselves in the same situation.  He said, "You'll need to find new friends and build a new life. Few people will understand what you feel, but remember it's you who will sleep better at night knowing you did the right thing. Accept your new life now and try to embrace it as an opportunity"   Some other topics we touched on were  -Her ethical journey and moral dilemma -How she knew something wasn't right -The story of accusations against her and the 4 year investigation -Why retaliation is dangerous -The importance of going to the correct person -How and why people want to discredit the whistleblower -Forceful tactics -Advise from Daniel Ellsberg (released the Pentagon Papers that ended the Vietnam War) -Steps that every whistleblower or reporter should take -The important of anonymity -Why ethics matter    Resources mentioned in the show:  Amy's Website: www.amyblockjoy.com  Whistleblower by Amy Block Joy Retaliation by Amy Block Joy Blowback: The Unintended Consequences of Exposing a Fraud by Amy Block Joy Ethics Point, a 3rd party agency collecting reports of fraud, unethical behavior by a company