Whistle While We Work Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Pentagon Papers

The Pentagon Papers revealed the U.S. Government's, particularly the Johnson and Nixon administration's, misleading statements to both the public and Congress regarding the Vietnam War. While working for the RAND Corporation Ellsberg was tasked to write a top-secret paper for the Defense Department detailing a history of U.S. policy making decisions in Southeast Asia.

He became convinced that the U.S. Government was intentionally misleading the American public. He released the paper to the press.

He was indicted and tried under the Espionage Act, but due to prosecutorial misconduct, the charges were dismissed.

Answer: Tobacco industry

Jeffrey Wigand was a former executive with Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company. He stated that Brown & Williamson had intentionally used chemicals such as ammonia to increase the effect of nicotine in cigarette smoke. His disclosures, particularly on CBS "60 Minutes", played a crucial role in the cases brought by the states' attorneys general against the major tobacco companies, which resulted in a $246 billion settlement for health claims paid by the states for tobacco-related illnesses.
According to Wigand, he was constantly harassed and received anonymous death threats.

Answer: Thalidomide

Dr. Frances Kelsey, a pharmacologist, worked for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a reviewer of applications from pharmaceutical companies for new drugs. The companies had to provide evidence of the drug's safety. Dr. Kelsey's review was that the drug thalidomide was unsafe, despite its use in several countries.

It was later found that thalidomide caused severe birth defects. By blocking approval of thalidomide in the USA, Dr. Kelsey undoubtedly saved countless numbers of lives and disabilities.

Answer: First whistleblowers

Samuel Shaw and Richard Marven are usually credited as being the first "whistleblowers". It seems that in 1777 Shaw and Marvan witnessed Commodore Esek Hopkins, who at the time was Commandant of the Continental Navy, torture British prisoners of war. For their troubles Shaw and Marven were dismissed from the Navy. Additionally, Hopkins filed criminal charges against both men.

In 1778 the Continental Congress unanimously passed the first "whistleblower protection law".

Answer: Watergate

Mark Felt was a former Deputy Director of the FBI. He was the source, nicknamed "Deep Throat", who led two Washington Post reporters through the maze that was "Watergate". The ensuing investigation was responsible for the first presidential resignation in U.S. history.

Answer: Nuclear radiation

Karen Silkwood worked in a plutonium plant where she was under continuous threat of exposure to nuclear radiation. As a union member she began to monitor her plant's health and safety practices and found numerous serious problems.
With documentary evidence in hand, Silkwood was on her way to meet with federal union officials when she was killed in a one-car accident. The documents were never found.

Answer: Tuskegee Syphilis Study

Peter Buxtun was a U.S. Public Health epidemiologist who learned of a study being conducted by the Public Health Service. Buxtun learned that in 1932 the Service began a study of 400 black men from Tuskegee, Alabama who had contracted syphilis. The goal was to study the long-term effects of syphilis. These men were enticed with free meals and free check-ups but were never told they were being denied medical treatment. When penicillin became available in the mid-1940's, these men continued to be denied treatment. Many died.

Buxtun made several unsuccessful attempts to get the attention of the Center for Disease Control. He finally, in 1972, went to the Associated Press. The subsequent Congressional investigation ended the experiment - nearly 40 years after it began.

Answer: Citigroup

Richard Bowen was a senior vice-president at Citigroup who exposed the bank's risky practices that played a role in the sub-prime mortgage crisis in 2008. After detailing Citigroup's fraudulent practices to the bank's Board of Directors he was fired. Bowen then testified before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and provided thousands of pages of evidence.

Despite initial enthusiasm by the SEC, the government ended up bailing Citigroup out with over $350 billion in capital. None of Citigroup's senior executives were prosecuted.

Answer: Sand Creek Massacre

The Sand Creek Massacre occurred in 1864. A group of Colorado U.S. Cavalry soldiers, led by Colonel John Chivington, attacked a peaceful village of Cheyenne and Arapaho people encamped at Sand Creek. The village was under the protection of the U.S. government. Despite this, the soldiers launched a surprise attack, killing an estimated 150 to 200 Native American men, women, and children, most of whom were unarmed.

Silas Soule was an officer in that group. He refused to participate in the attack. During a subsequent congressional investigation he testified against Chivington and others. Soule was murdered in 1865

Answer: FBI Laboratory

In the 1990's Frederic Whitehurst, a forensic chemist, was responsible for blowing the whistle on many of the forensic practices being employed at the FBI's laboratory in West Virginia. Whitehurst's revelations led to a re-evaluation of forensic methods used by law enforcement agencies and resulted in reforms in the field of forensic science.