MEET THE SPEAKERS

Tom Devine is Government Accountability Project’s Legal Director, and has worked at the organization since 1979. Since that time, Tom has formally or informally assisted over 7,000 whistleblowers in defending themselves against retaliation and in making real differences on behalf of the public – such as shuttering accident-prone nuclear power plants, rebuffing industry ploys to deregulate government meat inspection, blocking the next generation of the bloated and porous “Star Wars” missile defense systems, instituting a national commercial milk testing program for illegal animal drugs; and sparking the withdrawal of dangerous prescription drugs such as Vioxx. He has not lost a case since 2006, and has prevailed in advocacy at numerous U.S. courts of appeals as well as the Supreme Court.

Tom has been a leader in the campaigns to pass or defend 34 national or international whistleblower laws, including nearly all in the U.S. federal enacted over the last two decades. These include: the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 for federal employees; thirteen breakthrough laws since 2002 creating the right to jury trials for corporate whistleblowers; the new European Union Whistleblower Directive creating free speech rights for all 28 member nations; as well as United Nations, Organization of American States, World Bank, and African Development Bank policies legalizing public freedom of expression for their own whistleblowers; and even national laws in nations such as Serbia. Tom has traveled to 36 countries for whistleblower rights advocacy, including numerous speaking tours for the U.S. State Department that sparked its staff informally naming him the “Ambassador of Whistleblowing.”  In that capacity, he has served as a technical expert for drafting or advocacy of 14 more whistleblower laws or polices in nations ranging from Liberia and Tunisia, to Great Britain and Italy.