Page 236 - An Indispensible Resource for Being a Credible Activist

Don’t discuss your complaint with anyone at work unless you are absolutely 500
percent certain you can trust him or her, and even then, think twice about telling
anyone.
Realize that when you file a complaint anonymously, it may take the investigating
body longer to look into the matter and they won’t be able to follow up with you,
so you may never know to what extent an investigation has been undertaken and
what results, if any, came of any investigation.
Avoid getting your fingerprints on the letter, envelope, or stamps.

SAMPLE LETTER (NONANONYMOUS VERSION):
FORMAL EXTERNAL COMPLAINTS

On letterhead (if possible, but not necessary)
Date:

Name and Address of Person/Commission/Agency to Whom You Are Complaining
To Whom It May Concern: [Individual(s) or Commission to which you are complaining]
First and foremost, I am/we are requesting whistleblower protection inasmuch as it
applies to me/us at the city, state, and/or federal level for myself (and others if relevant)
for making this/these complaint(s). I/we are also requesting any other protections
against retaliation to which this complaint may entitle me/us.

I am/we are a current (and/or former) employee(s) of (Company), and I/we implore you
to initiate an official, prompt, sound, and impartial investigation into issues concerning
(choose one as many as apply: unethical, unlawful, retaliatory, conflicts of interest, finan-
cial mismanagement, harassment and discrimination, unsafe working conditions, public
health and safety issues, environmental illegalities, etc.).

I/we have enclosed copies of evidence for your review with a cover sheet identifying
each piece of evidence and explaining its relevance and my/our concerns.

(Only include this statement if it is true): I/we have communicated our concerns regard-
ing these issues with (Company)’s leadership; however, these problems have not been
remediated.
(Only include this statement if it is true): I/we are being (or have been) retaliated against,
and I/we do fear that I/we will be wrongfully terminated in retaliation for having raised
these issues. I/we implore you to contact (Company)’s leadership and order a freeze on
all employee terminations until the conclusion of an official, prompt, sound, and impar-
tial investigation. We are also concerned about incriminating evidence being removed
from main system computer, BlackBerry, and other servers, and I/we ask that a forensic
investigation of all (Company)’s servers be conducted as well.

CHAPTER 13 • Conflict Resolution 219