Elizabeth Holmes—Theranos retaliated against whistleblowers with legal threats and intimidation
Theranos under Holmes aggressively pursued whistleblowers who raised concerns. Erika Cheung and Tyler Shultz (grandson of board member George Shultz) faced legal threats, surveillance, and intimidation after reporting concerns to regulators. The company hired private investigators to follow Shultz and pressured his grandfather to intervene. Lab director Ian Gibbons died by suicide in 2013 amid the pressure.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whistleblower Protection | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Worker Rights | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.563 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.50)