The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) announced a new, full-time DoD Whistleblower Protection Coordinator at the Worldwide Hotline Outreach event held July 26, 2018 at the Mark Center in Alexandria, Virginia.
Kenneth M. Sharpless was selected for the positon.
As the Whistleblower Protection Coordinator, which was previously known as the Whistleblower Protection Ombudsman, Sharpless will be responsible for ensuring that DoD employees – uniformed military personnel, DoD civilians, as well as federal contractors and subcontractors – understand the statutes that protect them as whistleblowers.
“This is a critical role and it is important that we provide outreach and education,” said DoD OIG Principal Deputy Inspector General Glenn Fine. “We need to ensure the people within the Department of Defense know their rights as whistleblowers and their responsibilities as supervisors, as well as understand that there are prohibitions on retaliation for protected disclosures.”
Sharpless echoed Fine, saying “This is really about education. I want our most-valued resource, our people, to know their rights and responsibilities under whistleblower laws. Furthermore, I want to explore creative approaches, find new opportunities, and execute the best ways to get that information to them.”
Training and outreach are not new to Sharpless. Since 2016 he has served as the DoD OIG’s Whistleblower Reprisal Investigations (WRI) Directorate Outreach Specialist. In that role, he developed and deployed WRI’s Whistleblower Protection Program outreach strategies, and promoted WRI resources and training opportunities across the federal government.
“This is a very important day in the DoD OIG as we welcome a full-time Whistleblower Protection Coordinator (WPC),” said Marguerite Garrison, DoD OIG Deputy Inspector General for Administrative Investigations. “The WPC is a significant position as evidenced by Mr. Fine making it a full-time position. Ken Sharpless has the requisite skills and understanding of our whistleblower protection statutes and policies to develop a comprehensive program to educate the largest workforce in the federal government in our efforts to root out fraud, waste and abuse. I look forward to working with him in the future.”
Sharpless was announced as the new DoD Whistleblower Protection Coordinator at the DoD OIG’s Worldwide Hotline Outreach, an annual event that brings together whistleblower hotline leaders from federal, state, and local agencies to discuss cases, best practices, and to further develop the Hotline community.
Now in its sixth year, the Worldwide Hotline Outreach is scheduled each year to coincide with National Whistleblower Appreciation Day on July 30.