Alaska’s Whistleblower Protection Act (AS 39.90.100-150) has been on the books for decades. On paper, it looks strong. It says state employees cannot be retaliated against when they report violations of law, gross mismanagement, abuse of authority or waste of public funds. It authorizes reinstatement, back pay, compensatory damages and attorney fees.
In practice, though, it is little more than a hollow promise. The only path to relief is a private lawsuit in Superior Court. That’s a long, expensive process that most employees cannot afford. Few attorneys will take these cases on contingency. That leaves whistleblowers exposed, discouraged and often forced to quit or stay silent.
A case from a decade ago highlights this problem. In 2016, a former state electrician testified before the House Finance Committee. He described reporting long-term misuse of state time and resources at a training facility, only to face what he called sustained retaliation that forced him to resign. He later accepted another state position and raised concerns again, this time about the abrupt cancellation of an inmate apprenticeship program and a workplace culture that had already resulted in a six-figure settlement with a corrections union official. After raising these concerns directly with senior leadership, he testified that he was terminated following what he described as a series of unfounded accusations and HR investigations.
The current system does not protect whistleblowers. Fixing that is not a partisan issue. It is a matter of basic, honest government.
Whether or not every detail of his account can be proven, the point is clear. Even when an employee reports wrongdoing in good faith, Alaska law gives them almost no way to enforce their rights. Suing the state would require tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, with no guarantee of recovery and a high likelihood that sovereign immunity or discretionary function defenses would block relief. Like most employees in the same position, he did not pursue litigation.
This is not an isolated problem. Alaska is one of the only states that offers no independent or administrative forum for whistleblower claims. There is no ombudsman with enforcement authority, no personnel board hearing, no labor department investigation. The law exists on paper but is rarely effective in practice. The result is predictable: a chilling effect on reporting and an environment where waste, fraud and abuse can persist. Protecting employees in these situations should be one of the core functions of labor unions, yet the state employees union seems to have largely ignored this long-standing flaw.
Other states have figured this out. Colorado and Connecticut operate independent whistleblower ombudsman offices that investigate complaints at no cost to the employee and can recommend or order corrective action. New Jersey, Washington and Oregon allow whistleblowers to file administrative complaints with their labor departments or civil service commissions, followed by hearings and enforceable orders. Eleven states and the federal government offer monetary awards, typically between ten and thirty percent of recovered funds, when disclosures lead to financial recoveries. These programs create incentives to report wrongdoing and save taxpayers money. Meanwhile, in Alaska, employees have little recourse other than to testify before the Legislature or yell their story publicly.
Alaska can and should do better, and it can be done without significant cost. A few targeted reforms would make the law meaningful and shift the burden of enforcement from individual employees to the state.
ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
First, establish an independent Office of the Public Whistleblower Advocate, housed outside the Department of Administration, with authority to investigate complaints, issue subpoenas, and order interim relief and final remedies including reinstatement, back pay and civil penalties. Second, give the advocate authority to award attorney fees and litigation costs to employees who prevail, funded by civil penalties assessed against violating agencies or individuals. Third, allow discretionary monetary awards from recovered funds when disclosures result in savings or recoveries. Fourth, require annual reports to the Legislature on the number, nature and outcomes of whistleblower complaints.
These reforms would bring Alaska in line with best practices, protect employees who come forward in good faith, and strengthen accountability. More importantly, they would prevent small problems from growing into expensive failures that waste taxpayer dollars.
The story above confirms what everyone already knows: the current system does not protect whistleblowers. Fixing that is not a partisan issue. It is a matter of basic, honest government. I intend to introduce legislation in the upcoming session to correct this long-standing weakness, and I welcome bipartisan and union support to ensure Alaska’s whistleblower protections are more than words on paper.
The views expressed here are those of the author.
10 Comments
The Devil has been on full display yet there are many sheep who would state that Satan does not exist, or God for that matter.
Let the ignorant remain ignorant. The vampires gotta have something to feed on after all.
We live in a world where nature feeds upon itself and humans can be naive to think that their species has evolved beyond that fact. Some have sure, but the lower consciousness population as a whole still runs on base primal instincts. And just because a person puts a suit on and knows how to be a cunning linguist, it does not mean they aren’t motivate by self preservation while telling you that they “care about the people”.
My advice is to stop pursuing material gain and instead seek to transcend this physical realm and your mortal coil and leave this rock far behind, at least for a while until humans have gone extinct and come back to start fresh when there are no systems in place. Maybe incarnate as a bird instead.
THIS ARTICLE MAKES ME MAD AS HELL! HEY YOU SHAWN PARNELL, HEY YOU BILL WALKER , HEY YOU, MIKE SHOWER, HEY YOU SHELLY HUGHES, HEY YOU GEORGE RAUCHER, HEY YOU KEVIN CLARKSON, HEY YOU NANCY DALHSTROM, HEY YOU DELANA JOHNSON, HEY YOU TREG TAYLOR, HEY YOU MIKE DUNLEAVY! MY HOW THE YEARS HAVE GONE BY, AND THE NOT MY PROBLEM POLITICIANS HAVE TAKEN A PASS WHEN IT COMES TO THE VERY ISSUE THAT IS DESTROYING THE FUTURE OF THEIR CHILDREN! LEAVING THIS TO KEVIN MCCABE IS AN EYE POPPING OUTRAGE! YOU ALL DISGUST ME, AND WITH THAT MAY YOU ALL EAT YOUR FILL OF CARBON INFUSED TURKEY AND ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAYS SEQUESTERED IN YOUR BATHROOMS, AS THIS YEAR PASSES INTO THE NEXT! MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Hi Dave. No one “left it” to me. I chose to work on this because, even though you are not my constituent, you highlighted something I thought was worthwhile. I have no idea that I am in time to help you. But perhaps I can help others who might be, or fall, into the same situation. I am sorry the state statutes did not support you. I will work on that to the best of my abilities. (see Dave Donely’s post below.).
HEY JOEL I AM A WHISTLE BLOWER, THATS WHY IM MAD! EACH OF THOSE LISTED IN MY OTHER POST HAVE BEEN GIVEN the opportunity to do exactly what maccabe has done but they were apparently too preoccupied with nonsense! CALLING THEM OUT IS IN MY MIND COMPLETELY APPROPRIATE! THANKS
MERRY CHRISTMAS
DAVE MAXWELL
A FULL DISCLOSURE HEAR IS NEEDED! I AM THE WHISTLE BLOWER THAT KEVIN MCCABE IS REFERRING TO IN THIS ARTICLE. I HAVE NEVER HAD A CONVERSATION WITH MR MCCABE ABOUT ANYTHING. INCLUDING THE DETAILS OF MY WHISTLE BLOWER EXPERIENCE. IT MAKES ME CURIOUS AS HELL WHY HE’S BRINGING THIS INFORMATION FORWARD USING THE DETAILS OF MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITHOUT FIRST CONSULTING ME! HEY KEVIN YOU WROTE THE ARTICLE, I THINK IT WOULD BE ILLUMINATING FOR YOU TO POST YOUR EXPLANATION: AS TO WHY YOU CHOSE ME,TO, I DONT KNOW, MAYBE HELP YOUR CAUSE OF BEING AN UNPOPULAR RHINO LEGISLATOR!
YOUR CHOICE OF THE WAY YOU TREATED DAVID EASTMAN AND YOUR STANCE ON CARBON SEQUESTRATION SEEMS TO HAVE BURIED YOU IN A WAY THAT YOUR OWN CONSTITUENTS CANT STAND YOU ANYMORE. AND THAT HAS CAUSED YOU TO DESPERATELY REACH BEYOND YOUR JURISDICTIONAL DISTRICT TO MINE, LOOKING FOR SOME KIND OF HELP!
KEVIN, IM NOT NAIVE AND FOR SALE SO CHEAPLY! THOUGH WHAT YOU WROTE IS FOR THE MOST PART TRUE, IM NOT CONVINCED THAT YOUR MOTIVES ARE PURE! AS THE SCRITURES SAY, YOU MEANT IT FOR SELFISH REASONS, BUT GOD WILL USE IT FOR GOOD!!!
Kevin
Thank you for your suggestions regarding my 1989 HB 91 Whistleblower Protection Act. In my second year as the State Representative from Spenard, I was serving my first of two terms as Chair of the House Labor and Commerce Committee. (Which was a pretty big deal as a freshman legislator.) As Chair, I sponsored this legislation as a committee bill as one of a group of government reforms I authored. It ncluded strengthening Resident Preference in the Alaska State Constitution (which was passed by the voters), strengthening Anchorage’s Community Councils, Charitable Gaming Reform, the Alaska Neighborhood Revitalization Act, improving the Alaska Mandatory Auto Insurance Program, and NRA supported amendment to the Alaska Constitution to add Right to Bear Arms (all passed except Right to Bear Arms which Democrat opposition defeated). At the time, Alaska had no real statutory protections for state whistleblowers. As you well know, any government reform faces opposition and it took a lot of work and compromise to successfully move this bill through the process.
After over 30 years, I agree it should be strenghened. 30 years is a long time for any statute to hold up. Why has it not been improved already? Maybe it’s a recognition of how hard these kind of reforms are to accomplish?
Merry Christmas
Former Senator and Representative Dave Donley
Where is the Attorney General of the state of Alaska on this? The head of all jurisprudence in our state should be directing resources to investigate whistle blower complaints. What is the AG’s office for?
GREAT QUESTION PENNY. YEARS AGO I PURSUED THIS QUESTION , AND THE ATTORNEY GENERAL THEMSELF TOLD ME THAT THEIR ROLE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH ME, AND HOW THE STATE VIOLATED MY RIGHTS. THEIR JOB IS SPECIFICALLY TO PROTECT THE STATE, AND ONLY THAT! CORRUPTION WHEN THE STATE IS INVOLVED IS PROTECTED BY THE AG! TAX PAYERS PAY FOR THIS!
When I retired from state service I brought this up with my representative Sarah Vance, along with several factual fiduciary waste and malfeasance complaints. These are not isolated cases but rather business as usual for the SOA. She has zero interest and won’t even return my calls or emails. I gave up. As she said to me once on KSRM regarding suggestions for revamp and rehabilitation of our state’s funding allocation and spending methodology, “That ship is too big to re-steer” and the host hung up on me. Great pics of you wrapped in the flag though Sarah. Not so great representation.
Well David donley, it proves the point that creating laws means nothing if the character of the people has no substance! IN TIMES LIKE THESE THE ONLY SOLUTION STARTING POINT THAT IS IMPERATIVE, IS TO CULL THE SIZE OF GOVERNMENT BY 2/3RDS! THEN VET THE LAST 1/3 FOR CHARACTER AND COMPETENCE!
IF I BECOME GOVERNOR, THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WOULD DO!!!