A former North Carolina State trooper won a $3.75 million verdict in a long-running whistleblower case. State trooper Reginald Newberne claims that in 2000, a fellow officer told Newberne he injured his hand while punching a teen suspect. Newberne says he was hesitant about filling out an official report, but he later offered a detailed account of the incident to his superiors. Newberne was subsequently fired from his position in the Highway Patrol for a violation of the “truthfulness directive”.
A Wake County jury awarded Newberne the verdict for the department’s violation of whistleblower protection laws. Host Frank Stasio talks with Newberne about the challenges of speaking out as a law enforcement officer and how being a whistleblower has affected his life.