11.42 The BART Case; where whistle was blown [Ref. 6, pp 20-27] This has become a famous case in the area of professional ethics, perhaps the very first recorded case of whistle blowing. BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) is a modern rail transportation system in California, USA. It was built over the period 1966 to 1971. Three engineers working on the system were dissatisfied with the unprofessional manner in which the control and communication systems, particularly the Automatic Train Control (ATC) system, was being developed and installed by the contractors and subcontractors. They wrote memos to their supervisors pointing out the danger to train safety, They did not get any satisfactory response. Instead, they were warned not to become troublemakers. They then reported the matter to one of the members of the Board of Directors. In February’ 72 a public hearing was held at which presentations were made by a consulting engineer on behalf of the three engineers, as well as by the contractors. By a majority vote the Board rejected the engineers’ concerns. Within a week the BART management fired the three engineers without giving any reason for dismissal. The (EEE, whose code of cthics the engineers were following, tried to intervene but to no avail. An independent investigation by IEEE confirmed the engineers’ apprehensions. The report was submitted to the California State Senate. Further investigations by the Legislature and a special panel of distinguished engineers also concurred with the engineer's concerns. A more dramatic confirmation came within three week's of starting the service for commuters. A BART train overran a station in 1972 due to ATC failure, injuring several passengers. The ATC was stopped and the wains operated manually. It required major changes in the system, and expenditure of several hundred million dollars to rectify the defects. Whatever happened to the three engineers who sacrificed their career for upholding public interest and professional ethics of engineers? They were largely ignored by the committees, the government and the public. Subsequently they sued BART for damages totaling $ 885,000, However, because of financial hardship and uncertainty about the outcome of the trial they agreed to an out- of-court settlement (reported to be only $ 75,000). In 1978 they Jointly received the IEEE award for outstanding service in public interest. canned witn vamScan