The New Yorker Radio Hour

The Trials of a Whistle-blower


Listen Later

As a nurse at the Irwin County Detention Center—a Georgia facility run by LaSalle Corrections, a private company operating an immigration-detention contract with ICE—Dawn Wooten became aware of some frightening violations, including numerous hysterectomies and other medical procedures performed without patient consent. When she asked questions, she was demoted and eventually pushed out. Wooten supplied critical information for two complaints about I.C.D.C., which were submitted to the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Homeland Security. The complaints were first reported in The Intercept in September, 2020, and then covered widely in the national press. Last May, in a victory for Wooten, the detained women who spoke up about their mistreatment, and the advocacy groups that had fought on their behalf, ICE ended its I.C.D.C. contract with LaSalle. Wooten’s own troubles, however, had just begun. Receiving death threats and kidnapping threats, she and her five children stayed under security in a series of hotels. Her whistle-blower-retaliation complaint with the federal government is still awaiting a finding, as the Office of the Inspector General has requested two extensions on its legally required deadlines. Meanwhile, Wooten found that hardly anyone would hire a nurse who had made front-page headlines: despite her twelve years of experience, she was rejected from more than a hundred jobs during a national nursing shortage. She couldn’t get hired at McDonald’s. Wooten, and the detained women who shared their stories at great risk, are still awaiting justice. For Sarah Stillman, who covers immigration for The New Yorker, Wooten’s case draws attention to the fact that low-wage whistle-blowers, in particular, can face almost insurmountable obstacles to coming forward to expose wrongdoing.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The New Yorker Radio HourBy WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2

4.2

5,496 ratings


More shows like The New Yorker Radio Hour

View all
On the Media by WNYC Studios

On the Media

9,108 Listeners

The Book Review by The New York Times

The Book Review

3,853 Listeners

This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

90,628 Listeners

Fresh Air by NPR

Fresh Air

38,211 Listeners

The New Yorker: Fiction by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker: Fiction

3,311 Listeners

The Political Scene | The New Yorker by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

3,921 Listeners

The New Yorker: Poetry by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker: Poetry

501 Listeners

The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker

2,096 Listeners

In The Dark by The New Yorker

In The Dark

27,519 Listeners

Pod Save America by Crooked Media

Pod Save America

86,472 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

111,438 Listeners

Radio Atlantic by The Atlantic

Radio Atlantic

2,304 Listeners

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat by New York Times Opinion

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

6,758 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

15,207 Listeners

The Interview by The New York Times

The Interview

1,449 Listeners

Critics at Large | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

Critics at Large | The New Yorker

576 Listeners

The Opinions by The New York Times Opinion

The Opinions

425 Listeners