“Whistleblower–An employee who refuses to engage in and/or reports illegal or wrongful activities of his employer or fellow employees.” –Black’s Law Dictionary
Whistleblowers are hot. Sherron Watkins of Enron, Cynthia Cooper of WorldCom and Coleen Rowley of the FBI appeared on the cover of Time magazine as “Persons of the Year” in 2002.
For every one of those high-profile cases, there are numerous similar souls suffering for their consciences. In this week’s cover story, we introduce you to a surgeon who paid dearly for drawing attention to wrongdoing in his corner of the world.
Tribune reporter Nara Schoenberg, once a medical writer, knows how rare it is for doctors to speak out about the misbehavior of other doctors. So she was intrigued by Raymond Pollak and his suits against the University of Illinois Hospital and two other medical institutions. “He sounded exactly like the kind of doctor who wouldn’t go public: highly placed at the university and dependent on other doctors for his professional future,” recalls Nara. “But there he was, accusing his home institution of fraud. Who was this guy?”
Nara found not a boat-rocking maverick burning with outrage but a professor in a blazer with a vaguely British air. “He’s the kind of guy you can easily imagine climbing the professional ladder for 30 years and retiring amid speeches and applause,” observes Nara. “But, of course, that’s not what happened.”
On the other hand, there are speeches and applause in order for Nara, who put the finishing touches on this story after giving birth to twin boys, Calvin and Zeph Roe. When father Sam Roe, also a Tribune reporter, brought in some last-minute changes to the story, a colleague mentioned that he would love to come by and see the boys. Sure, said Sam. “How about 3 a.m.?”