“The Empowered Whistleblower”
Dawn Westmoreland–“The Empowered Whistleblower Radio Show”
Dawn’s Bio:
In 1992, Dawn reported a high-level leader in the United States Air Force for unethical and illegal behavior. She incurred abusive retaliation for her fearless boldness. Despite death threats and a demotion, Dawn persevered in standing up for herself. Her story of bravery was used by the Air Force as training in a Senior Noncommissioned Leadership course.
In 2013, Dawn reported her former managers at the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) for nepotism and racial discrimination. Again, Dawn was retaliated against for being a whistleblower. She was harassed and placed on administrative leave for over 100 days. When the Department of Veteran Affairs cut off her paychecks, Dawn eventually lost her house.
Exhaustion overcame her and she passed out two times in her workplace. Ultimately, she was ambulanced twice and voluntarily was placed in the VA Medical Center’s mental health ward. One of Dawn’s greatest “aha” moments occurred while she was recovering.
She realized that she didn’t have to feel like a victim. She stood her ground and held her bullies accountable as she filed charges against her former managers at the VA with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). She later settled without signing a non-disclosure agreement.
Dawn believes that employees and employers deserve to work in safe and respectful work environments. Since 2013, Dawn launched a consulting business, wrote several books, and became a podcaster and a radio talk show host. Dawn’s work has been recognized and lauded by activist, Erin Brockovich, The Concerned Veterans for America organization, and the Christian Science Monitor. Sharing her expertise in how to create respectful work environments, Dawn has been featured on Access 21 TV and over 100 radio/podcast shows.
You can learn more about her work at http://www.DawnWestmoreland.org
(Scroll down below the interviews to learn more about the show)
Felix Nater, one of the leading workplace violence consultants in the U.S., and I discuss workplace violence and ways to mitigate it, along with strategies for companies to employ to keep their employees safe in the workplace.
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Keith Black, an employment attorney/HR director, and I discuss how workplace investigations can mitigate lawsuits, help employee/employer engagement, and help a company be more productive. You can reach him at keith.black@epoutsourcing.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithrblack
You can learn more about my work and mission at WorkplaceBullyingSupport.com
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Each week, Dawn Westmoreland discusses workplace issues with her guest experts, every Thursday at 4:30 p.m. EST, she talks about workplace conflicts, bullying in the workplace, equality and discrimination issues, leadership, engagement, and resiliency in the workplace. Dawn has nearly 30 years in Human Resources. She is a certified Life Coach through iPEC, an HR consultant, advanced consulting hypnotist, speaker, mediator, and also is a podcaster on Mental Health News Radio. Dawn is a retired Air Force veteran after serving 20 years in the United States and Europe.
She became passionate about her work after exposing perceived racial and nepotism in her former federal job. Dawn understands what it feels like to be bullied in the workplace and it’s her mission to help employees and employers create psychologically safe and respectful work environments.
She has interviewed popular guests, such as Erin Brockovich. Dawn was sent to Washington, D.C. to educate Senators about the abuse of “Whistleblowers”, and she was featured in the Christian Science Monitor for her mission to help people have respectful work environments.
She provided advice on a TV special in Charlotte, NC, on Solutions to Workplace Bullying and Discrimination. It was a popular watched show in November 2018. It reinforced the idea that people are looking for respect and civility where they work.
Dawn’s hobbies are working in her garden, traveling, writing, and doting on her kitty cat (Smudge).
IN AWE (Inspiring & Advancing Women’s Excellence) hostess Laura Wagenecht talks about all aspects of women in business. The show will cover various topics, ranging from climbing the ladder to success, sexism, racism, agism, being a female entrepreneur, being the only woman in the room, to trying to be superwoman and parent children and work full-time, women’s bias against other women, women in the military, and women in a variety of industries. The guests will be from all walks of life and share their stories to help other women advance their professional journey. Stay tuned on Thursday morning’s at 9:00 a.m. on WPVM 103.7!