Whistleblower Hotline Rings to Voicemail That Has Been Full Since 2019

An investigation prompted by an anonymous tip has revealed that the Department of Institutional Integrity's whistleblower hotline has been routing all calls to a voicemail box that reached capacity in October 2019 and has not been checked since. The anonymous tip was submitted via email because the tipster was unable to reach the hotline. 'I called the number on the poster,' said the whistleblower, who spoke on condition of anonymity. 'A recording said the mailbox was full. I tried again the next day. Same message. I called every day for two weeks. It was full the entire time. So I reported the full voicemail box as my whistleblower complaint, which I think captures the spirit of the thing.' The voicemail box, which has a capacity of 200 messages, was last accessed by former Hotline Coordinator Janet Receiver, who retired in December 2019 without training a replacement. Her position was eliminated in a 2020 restructuring, and responsibility for the hotline was transferred to the Office of General Oversight, which was unaware of the transfer. 'We have no record of being assigned the whistleblower hotline,' said General Oversight Director Thomas Unaware. 'But I suppose that's consistent with the general theme here.' A review of the voicemail box, now being conducted by a newly appointed interim hotline coordinator, has so far revealed 200 messages spanning the period from June to October 2019. Forty-seven appear to be legitimate whistleblower complaints. Thirty-one are spam. Twelve are from the same person reporting that the break room microwave smells. The remainder are classified as 'ambiguous.' None of the 47 complaints were investigated. 'Going forward, we will implement a robust monitoring protocol for the hotline,' Unaware promised. 'We've drafted a plan and submitted it for review to the Office of Compliance Monitoring, which, coincidentally, is the subject of three of the unresolved whistleblower complaints.' The hotline's number continues to appear on posters throughout the building. A footnote has been added: 'If you are unable to reach the hotline, please try again later.'