Maria Veiga uncovered corruption while working for the U.N.'s weather agency in Switzerland, and what did she get for it? She got fired.
And now, finally, the former auditor of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is getting some justice for her efforts.
Nearly four years after her dismissal, Veiga, a Portuguese national, has been awarded what is believed to be one of the largest amounts ever paid by the International Labor Office Administrative Tribunal. The ILOAT awarded Veiga $476,098 for defamation, harassment and wrongful termination while carrying out her recognized audit duties.
Veiga, a 10-year U.N. veteran, investigated a cash-for-votes scandal at the WMO and uncovered widespread fraud. Her probe implicated more than a dozen senior officials at the agency.
Veiga claimed she was harassed, persecuted and ultimately dismissed when she refused an order by the WMO's secretary general, Michel Jarraud, to cover up her findings. Jarraud, who claims he was uninvolved in any wrongdoing, was re-elected to a second term in May 2007.
FOX News exposed Veiga's plight in January 2007, and the 70-page tribunal decision -- handed down in July -- included its report as evidence during its review of Veiga's case.
Michele Montas, spokeswoman for the U.N. told FOX News that they will not comment further on a judicial decision. "I understand that the decision of the ILO Administrative tribunal is public and available on their website. WMO accepted the Tribunal's decision and will abide by it."
Edward Flaherty, Veiga's Geneva-based American lawyer, says while the decision is a victory, more needs to be done to protect whistleblowers and the U.S. taxpayer. The U.S. is one of the largest contributors to the WMO.
"Who is looking out for the U.S. taxpayer?" Flaherty asked. "It just reinforces the sad state of affairs of whistleblowers around the world, it doesn't matter if they work for a government, an international or multinational organization. Despite the great discussion of how whistleblowers should be encouraged and protected, the reality is that they end up suffering."
In an e-mail to Fox News, Veiga said that while the judgment is a historic one that has helped her recover her personal and professional dignity, she will still be carrying on her fight until justice is realized. That means getting her old job back and having the people who harrassed her sanctioned.
"It is completely unfair that WMO Secretary General and other harassers have not been sanctioned and yet continue to hold their positions, while the person who has been harassed and defamed is out of a job," she wrote. "It is totally unfair that I am kept away from my job and had my professional career and personal life destroyed. It means that who has the courage to bring to light fraudulent behaviors and practices will be out in any way."
The WMO is one of the most powerful voices in the global warming debate, and as the co-founder of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change wields tremendous influence over global warming policy.
Comments
Editor replied on Permalink
A rare (partial) victory for a whistleblower
A few whistleblowers eventually achieve some kind of vindication, if the media takes up the story and the public chooses to believe the whistleblower's version of events. Some of these individuals have even become national figures, like the three women featured on the front page of Time Magazine. The public tends to assume that the whistleblower, once vindicated in this way, lives happily ever afterwards. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Whistleblowers almost never get their jobs back, nor adequate compensation for the destruction of their careers and the damage to their health and reputation. That's why this case is important: Maria Veiga has been awarded a sizeable settlement, though probably much less than the real cost of losing her job and her career.
Kudos to her for vowing to continue her fight to get her job back – and to see the wrongdoers sanctioned. That's something that almost never happens, even in the most egregious cases of wrongdoing. We will be following this case.
Maria do Rosari... replied on Permalink
Whistleblower at WMO and the victory at the ILO AT in Geneva
First of all let me thank you for having commented on my case and contributing to a better society.
Yes, I am the whistleblower who won the case against WMO – the World Meterological Organization – at the ILO AT after being violently harrassed and retaliated against. This was a consequence of my discovery that my boss, the Secretary-General of WMO, was involved and benefited from defrauding the organization: by stealing money which he then used to buy influence in order to get elected to his current position at WMO.
I was the Chief Internal Auditor in the Investigation Service. Thus it was my duty to blow the whistle and of course this put me in a tremendous dilemma. Please note that this person is still in his top position at WMO: he is the highest ranking official there – Secretary-General.
I have lived through such an extreme experience at WMO, which is well described in your site, starting with how whistleblowers are usually mistreated and how the harassment process usually starts with undermining of the whistleblower's work and credibility. I have not yet been able to recover my professional career and my personal life, both destroyed through the process, but am still struggling to regain these.
I hope I will find the energy to continue to fight and to be successful. We have to strive to make things better. I am planning to study the phenomenon of corruption in my PhD project: this is a way I have found to continue living and feeling useful to society.
All the best, Maria do Rosario Veiga.