Speaking Out from Within: Toyota Exec and West Virginia Miners

Whenever there is a major corporate disaster and cover-up, you hope someone on the inside has the courage to come forward and talk.  But anyone who has ever known a “whistleblower” knows the terrible risks they take for doing so.  Look what happened to the Texas nurses who spoke out about safety and were criminally prosecuted. With the help of great lawyers like those at the Government Accountability Project, some are able to bring successful lawsuits for retaliation.  Some whistleblower stories even make it to Hollywood (Jeffery Wigand, Karen Silkwood), but most whistleblowers live out their ruined lives in hellish obscurity.  It takes a lot of courage to speak out.

We are now starting to see glimpses of courage from those inside both the Toyota "sudden accleration" and West Virginia mine tragedies.  First, we learned yesterday that on January 16, 2010, Irving A. Miller, then the group vice president for environmental and public affairs at Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A, sent an email to a Japanese colleague in which he “urged his colleagues to ‘come clean’ and admit it had mechanical problems with sticking accelerator pedals three days before the company met with federal authorities to discuss a recall.”  He said, “We are not protecting our customers by keeping this quiet… The time to hide on this one is over. We need to come clean.”  Mr. Miller retired from the company shortly after he sent this. 

Then last night, NBC news reported that West Virginia miners are coming forward, anonymously so far, to confirm what many news reports have been speculating – that the mine was so unsafe it should have been shut down at least until it could be made safer.  One miner spoke in silhouette, fearing retaliation.  It is a difficult admission for anyone whose livelihood depends on working at these mines.  Given the circumstance, it took a good deal of courage.  You can watch it here:

Comments

[Mike]

The time to hide on "this one" is over. "This one", meaning this is not the only thing they are hiding and will continue to hide. OK, NHTSA it's time to take this rogue company to the woodshed, it's time for a strip-search.

What else are you hiding Toyota? What else are you hiding that can endanger more people's lives.