The whistleblower's guide
You've witnessed corruption at work and you're unsure of what to do about it. Here's what to do and how.
What is corruption?
The first thing you need to find out is if what you're dealing with is a case of corruption. Many people are afraid to speak up for fear of wrongly accusing someone and souring their professional relationship and many are convinced by the perpetrators that their dealings are legitimate. Here's how to differentiate between the two.
According to www.dictionary.com corruption can be defined as the use of a position of trust or power for dishonest gain.
According to section 34 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (2003), the following are examples of corruption:
Theft – Stealing or removing the property of another without their permission.
Extortion – Abusing your authority in order to obtain money.
Fraud – Deceiving or tricking another individual for personal gain.
Forgery – Writing or altering someone's signature or name.
Bribery – Taking or giving someone something in return for something else.
Why people don't report corruption
Although all workers are obliged to expose corruption very few do. Many people are afraid of losing their jobs, being victimised or being labelled as an accessory to the crime. Very few are aware of the laws that prevent this from happening.
The laws involved
There are many laws aimed at the protection of whistleblowers. Many of them state very similar points, but it's best to read through all of them before planning a course of action.
The Protected Disclosures Act (2000)
The PDA, which was introduced in February 2001, protects all whistleblowers in both the private and public sector from victimisation. This Act protects you from being fired, demoted or discriminated against after reporting corruption if you have disclosed information in a lawful manner. Thoroughly read through this document before disclosing any information to anyone.
Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (2003)
According to Section 34 of this Act, it is the duty of anyone who is aware of or suspects corruption to report it to either a police official or a person of authority. Failing to do so is a criminal offence. This act also states that accepting bribes or any other form of reward from the perpetrator is a criminal offence and that remaining silent about what you have witnessed makes you an accomplice.
The Labour Relations Act (1995)
Section 189 states that no employee may be fired if an employer cannot prove that his reason for doing so was fair. Exposing corruption is not in breach of any contract and it is not a fair reason to be dismissed. If your employer does violate any of these laws, you should approach the Labour Court within 30 days.
The Employment Equity Act (1998)
This Act states that no employee may be discriminated against or victimised for any reason, which includes acting as a whistleblower.
The Code of Conduct for the Public Service
According to this code, all employees are obliged to expose corruption. Failing to do so is regarded as an offence.
How to expose corruption
Who should you report corruption to?
According to the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (2004), people in positions of authority in the public and private sectors should report corruption to the police.
The Public Service Code of Conduct states that all employees of the public service should report corruption to an appropriate authority. If they fail to do so, they will be charged as an accomplice and can be fined or imprisoned for up to 10 years.
Kerry burrows a construction manager for T-mobile is Florida has been requesting and accepting kick-backs from local general contractors to award them projects. He has had people terminated that he feels will interfere with his agenda. T-Mobile's ethic department has been notified and no action has been taken.
ReplyDeleteSites that can be constructed for $20,000 as an example are awarded by him for $40,000. Since T-Mobile is a publicly traded company should the FBI be notified or who do you think needs to be notified to stop him?.
Towerdog81: this jerk Jason Edinger is worse, he makes the subs pay him to issue them work through BetaCom and then he splits the money with William Shearer, bill Grady and Matt Spiak of Sprint. Everybody knows but no one can do anything to stop it.
DeleteI think this Kerry Burrows is Not doing this alone. There have to be more people involved.
ReplyDeleteWho issues or approves purchase orders
Towerjohn. August 29, 2012
ReplyDeleteI know this jerk Kerry Burrows. He called our company asking us to hire one of his friends with no experience in exchange for guaranteed work with T-Mobile in South Florida. Several of those guys in the construction department have been asking for and taking kick backs for years, nothing new. He called BetaCom and told them to hire this guy Ozzie that used to work for JACOBS and they did, so now they have a boat load of work. Then NOKIA had to hire Mackel's brother, and it goes on and on. Hopefully T-Mobile corporate will wake up one of these days and clean house.
GINPOLE25:
ReplyDeleteThanks TJ this is a great site. Don't forget the other thief Michael Nisenbaum, he is right there with Kerry Burrows. What about the crooks at Metro PCS, Mike Julian, Scott Gordan. It's just amazing how they have gotten away with this for years. No wonder they can afford to live like kings. I have to literally give DNA to get a po to buy a pencil and these jerks can scamm millions of dollars and get away with it.
Towerjohn: Does anybody know this other jerk Tom Hansbury with TLC?, watch out for him, he has screwed all the tower techs they hire. He talks crap about how he has paid off the guys at Jacobs to get work especially Bryan B and how he knows this, that and the other thing. He is a crooked lier, so stay away from him and them.
ReplyDeleteI know this is from left field but, I am in a tight situation.
ReplyDeleteI work for a sly and manipulative woman... She has been pulling on peoples strings since the day she arrived which landed her the current position she has. She is not above bribery or any other sort of foul play, but she is very sneaky and underhanded with her play. Its as simple as her way or the highway and she will find a way to pull some sort of regulation against you...
tomorrow she is going to ream my supervisor for allowing us 15 minute tea time twice a week - for those of us that dont smoke... she has rallied all of the big wigs above her to join in and silence him. I cant sit around anymore..I need guidance. I need to take her down and publicly expose her corruption. Please help
I work in a union shop. I beloved that the local union president is playing games with grevence procedures. How can I put a stop to it.
ReplyDeleteSKIESTHELIMIT25: Unfortunately we have had to deal with this idiot Jason Edinger at BETACOM also. Between him and the other jerk Gerry asking subs to pay them to get work small companies like us cannot survive. They claim they need to pay up the chain to Bill Shearer and Matt Spiak at Sprint and then they pay up Larry Callender guy in corporate. It just goes on and on and we cannot stop it. There is no way to get work based on your credentials anymore its based on who you pay and how much. It sucks and its killing all of us. Listen these other jerks at T-Mobile/Metro PCS are not to far behind. We had to also Pay Steve Jastermesky and Michael Nissenbaum and they claim they pay up to Harlan. They would not let us work for them direct even after we paid, they sent us through JACOBS and that jerk Sean was worse then those guys, before that they sent us to CSI until Dennis got caught then back to JACOBS we went. Maybe one day soon they will clean house and hire honest and ethical people in this market.
ReplyDeleteCLIMBINGBOY99: This is a great site, thanks for the info. We are all in the same boat with all these thieving jerks, but what can we do. Its obviously not a secret, what we cannot figure out is if all these companies have these supposed "Ethics Compliance" departments, why have these people not been fired or put in jail. They are publicly traded companies, how could they not know?. If it were up to me, I would fire everyone in this market from the top down and start fresh with people from other markets that have not been tainted. I would do the same thing with all those contractors, I would get rid of all of them and bring in new companies that have never been able to get work because they cannot afford the payoff's. Anyhow, just my piece.
ReplyDeleteLongHornTime: OMG this site is great. I think the worst ones at T-Mobile South Florida is Michael Nissenbaum and Steve Jastermesky. They bully people into getting what they want, especially the contractors. They have to pay and pay to get work from them and hope they make it back on change orders. This whole market is corrupt.
ReplyDeleteVirtualTowers: That is nothing. These jerks Jason Edinger and Gerry Rodriguez at Betacom made our boss fire this poor kid last year. This guy had a wife and three kids. Unfortunately for him he had worked with Betacom a couple of years ago, not sure what happened, but, regardless who the hell are they to have anyone fired because they used to work there. I am sure if this kid had any money he would of sued the crap out of them. My boss also has had to pay them, take them to bars, trips and then pay some more to flow it up the chain at Sprint and Verizon.
ReplyDeleteVirtualTowers: These clowns Michael Nissenbaum and Stephen M. Jastermsky at T-Mobile just got a ton of cash from this guy at JACOBS rumors has it. I just don't get it, where the heck are their corporate people, how do they not know what goes on down here.
ReplyDeletePM2991: This site is incredable, this is one of most corrupt markets we have ever worked in. We thought it was Michael Fulton at Metro PCS and then Michael Nissenbaum at T-Mobile. We not only had to pay them off, they forced us to work under Sean Rorich at JACOBS and that guy is a jerk a lier and a schister. We do not understand how they continue working and never seem to get caught.
ReplyDeleteTOWERBUD27: Man this is an awesome site. My boss has been in the industry 20 years and has worked all over the Country. He said that by far, this market is the most blatantly corrupt market he has ever worked in. We just finished this site for BETACOM and this jerk, Gerry Rodriguez actually had the gall to tell me boss he needed to "pay up the chain" if he wanted to keep working for them. My boss paid them 10K and we got 10 more sites. Gerry said the money goes to this guy Jason and he pays up to some guys at Sprint or T-Mobile depending on the project I guess. It is just freaking unbelievable. My boss is going to flip when I show him this stuff. Thanks for the "heads up", pal.
ReplyDeleteThis is the funnist bull s**t blog I have ever read before. Did we forget Shivan or is he paying you all off too for writing statements like the ones above. if there is anyone that need investagation it would be the tag names that make statements like the ones above. Why dont you tell us all what your name is so we can talk straight up front and dont be afraid it is all BLOG
ReplyDeleteHummm sounds like maybe one of the guilty is on defense. Why did you not put you name out there tough guy?
DeleteHummm sounds like maybe one of the guilty is on defense. Why did you not put you name out there tough guy?
DeleteLOL! You're the funniest sh!t. You call people out yet for being anonymous yet you're anonymous. #DUMBASS #ISkippedCollege
ReplyDeleteThis blog is just nonsense. A bunch of construction guys full of sh!t. There's always drama and confusion in construction. Most of these comments are unfounded and bitter folks can just rant on here! This information is not being validated so all this blog entails are comments from field guys with issues.
ReplyDeleteMaybe all of you guys complaining just do sub par work. We have worked for everyone listed here. Its no secret, we do a good job and they give us more work. Thats it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe these guys were just screwed over like what commonly happens in the US. Organized crime and excessive greed is still very alive and well in the US and other "industrialized countries"
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