Week 4

Joshua Omoletski
Section 3

In her novel “Whistleblower,” Amy Block Joy focuses on the scenario she found herself in when she discovered embezzlement at UC Davis. She found that her boss as well as some of her coworkers were involved in this scheme. When she acted against them, she found herself alone and singled out by many. Even one of the college deans had “served” her, so to say. This situation of Block Joy being singled out by her coworkers and superiors eerily reminded me of Prof. Valverde’s own article that we read during week 1. The interesting thing though is that while Prof. Valverde was isolated because of her race and gender, Block Joy was singled out because she spoke up against an illegal scheme within the university. That brings me to my next thought: what if instead of Block Joy being the whistleblower, it had been a white male who had unveiled the embezzling? Would his coworkers and superiors still have targeted and harassed him like Block Joy was? This situation was more about the money and not getting caught rather than being a racist or a sexist. However, I can’t help but think that Block Joy’s gender contributed to how boldly her coworkers and even a college dean had moved against her. It seems that when money is involved, most people will do anything to make sure they get their share, even if it’s a share of something they shouldn’t have in the first place.

Instead of a visual add-on like a picture, I’ve found an article written about Amy Block Joy when she was confronted with another case of embezzlement. This time though, it was someone who was working under her and Block Joy was labeled as guilty by association.

Question: Do you think Amy Block Joy’s coworkers and superiors acted so boldly against her because she was a woman, or because they were so desperate to try to not be caught?

References:
Block Joy, A. (2010) Whistleblower. Bay Tree Publishing.
Golden, C. (2011, January 26). Whistleblower paid a price for reporting theft. Retrieved from http://www.amyblockjoy.com/news/whistleblower-paid-a-price-for-reporting-theft/