Dennis Berkowitz just got fired from his volunteer job. His transgression? He says it was looking out for the veterans of the Palo Alto VA Hospital, where he was working in the kitchen — and where he says food was stored unsafely and served to patients.
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“While the VA denies the allegations, the hospital refuses to provide a copy of the inspection report it claims it passed six months before the allegations surfaced,” reports ABC7.
“They didn’t care,” Berkowitz, 85, told the news station. “It’s below health standards for anyone … especially for patients who are already vulnerable.”
What happened
When it comes to food safety, Berkowitz knows what he’s talking about.
His 70-year career began by helping out his father, who was in the restaurant business. “I was dipping ice cream by the time I could reach the cabinets,” he told The Daily Journal.
After earning a restaurant management degree from Michigan State University, he worked for several hotel chains, including Hyatt, where he became vice-president of food and beverages when he was just 29. In 1978, he opened his first Max’s restaurant, which eventually became a popular chain.
So Berkowitz understands food safety. Perhaps even more shocking than being fired from his volunteer position at a VA hospital is that — in addition to being an accomplished restaurateur who values food quality and safety — he’s a former second lieutenant, which means he’s a veteran himself.
While working at the VA hospital, Berkowitz told ABC7 he witnessed food being stored at unsafe temperatures and alleges that staff were falsifying temperature logs — and he claims he has photographs to prove it. For instance, he says he saw chili being stored at 65 degrees below the minimum safe temperature for hot food as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“That’s the perfect incubation temperature for E. coli,” Berkowitz said in the interview. He also said he witnessed food that contained meat being labeled as vegetarian.
When he reported these shortcomings to management, he said he was told, “You’re not allowed to take pictures. If it were up to me … you’d never would have got this job.”
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The hidden financial impact on whistleblowers
This is a relatively common whistleblower experience, explain researchers Aiyesha Dey, Jonas Heese and Gerardo Pérez Cavazos in an article for the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance.
“Employee whistleblowers report in their lawsuits that, in most of the allegations, firms ignore the issue raised by them, and, in 10% of the allegations, firms try to cover-up the issue internally. In only 6% of cases, firms open an internal investigation,” they wrote.
In Berkowitz’s case, he says not only were his concerns ignored, but he was fired in retaliation for voicing them.
“Employee whistleblowers report that firms typically retaliate against them via firing (in more than one third of all cases), harassment (about 16% of all cases), threats (about 10% of all cases) and demotions (about 6% of all cases). In only 21% of all cases, the firm does not retaliate against an employee whistleblower,” said the article.
Not only do whistleblowers face a potential loss of income, they could also face legal costs and difficulties landing a new job, as well as emotional strain.
Whistleblowers do tend to land on their feet eventually and typically find a new job within about a year, according to Dey, Heese and Pérez Cavazos. In about half of cases (52%), this job is equivalent to or better than their old one, although this may mean moving to a new state or industry. About 10% end up in a worse job and a fifth (21%) become self-employed.
If, like Berkowitz, you’re compelled to become a whistleblower, it helps to have an emergency fund of at least three to six months (or longer), just in case you’re let go.
In the U.S. there are legal protections and, in some cases, financial awards available to whistleblowers through such laws as the False Claims Act, the Dodd-Frank Act and the IRS whistleblower law.
However, whistleblowing is not a path to riches. Dey, Heese and Pérez Cavazos looked at whistleblower lawsuits and found that, “In the short term, whistleblowers are also more likely to face judgments and liens … The expected reward for blowing the whistle is approximately $140,000, which seems to offset the financial costs.”
You should be prepared to take legal action to remedy any retaliation by your employer and factor in the financial costs this might entail. In addition to these financial costs, you’ll need to be prepared to possibly lose friends and colleagues, while being exposed to public scrutiny.
If you decide to go this route, the National Whistleblower Center provides resources, advocacy and, in some cases, legal assistance. You should also assemble a team that includes a lawyer who specializes in whistleblower cases and a financial planner who can help you navigate the potential disruption to your finances.
Doing the right thing isn’t always easy, and you’ll need to consider whether you can withstand the costs. But one by one, whistleblowers are making the world a better place.
In the meantime, Berkowitz wants a safe dining experience for VA patients — and he wants to get back to work. “I want my job back!” he told ABC7. “Let’s see if they give it to me.”
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
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