Whistle-Blowers

* While following two unrelated stories in The Times recently, I found a common thread. The blood bank tragedy at Drew Medical Center and the MTA debacle will both yield similar findings as investigations progress.

We will find that employees have been trying to expose serious issues for years at both organizations and have been told to be quiet or lose their jobs. There will also be employees who have been wrongly fired, as lawsuits against the MTA have proved, or demoted for attempting to “blow the whistle” on incompetent superiors and outmoded, dangerous and possibly illegal practices.

A quote regarding replacing the MTA chief calls for someone who is willing to tell the politicians what they may not want to hear. Nonsense. Anyone trying to change the status quo will go the way of Franklin White, but for the wrong reasons.

As long as the powers that be allow “blow the whistle--lose your job” to be the standard, we can look forward to many more disasters, human tragedies and business failures.

SUSAN NIEMEYER

Glendale