Warsaw whistleblower fired despite mayor’s protection, prosecutor notified

The whistleblower’s allegations

Piotr, an employee of the Warsaw Municipal Roads Authority (ZDM), together with two colleagues questioned an instruction in April 2025 to insure vehicles seized under non‑final court rulings. The trio considered the spending wasteful and asked for the order in writing. When no written order came, Piotr submitted an internal whistleblower report to ZDM director Łukasz Puchalski on 30 April 2025, arguing that public money was being misspent.

Retaliation and dismissal

After the report, Piotr says he suffered what he describes as retaliatory measures: his motivational bonus was cut, access to previously used software was blocked, and his performance rating was lowered. Despite those actions, he escalated the matter. In October 2025 he wrote directly to Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski and two days later, on 22 October, lodged a formal whistleblower notification with the city. On 17 November 2025 Trzaskowski granted him official whistleblower status, which by law is meant to protect against dismissal and reprisals.

However, on 16 January 2026 the ZDM director terminated Piotr’s employment. The grounds cited included loss of trust and actions harming the employer’s image, referencing the email Piotr had sent to the mayor’s office. Co‑workers reportedly sent that correspondence back to the ZDM, and Piotr claims the allegations were shared with the very people he had complained about.

City hall’s response

Warsaw City Hall issued a statement on 26 June 2026 saying all the circumstances raised by Piotr had been investigated and were not confirmed. The statement noted that discrepancies concerned the interpretation of rules on insuring confiscated vehicle wrecks. It stressed that whistleblower protection is not absolute, adding that sometimes employees abuse the status to shield themselves from termination. ZDM listed eight instances of irregularities on Piotr’s part that it said were unrelated to his whistleblowing.

Political fallout

The case erupted just a day after Trzaskowski faced the Warsaw Council over a separate scandal at the Southern Hospital. Opposition politicians seized on the dismissal. PiS MP Marek Wesoły called on Trzaskowski to resign, writing: “In Warsaw scandal follows scandal. Another whistleblower sacked.” PiS colleagues Janusz Cieszyński and Radosław Fogiel also attacked the mayor. Konfederacja’s Łukasz Rzepecki said that transparency in Warsaw “ends where the interests of those in power begin.” Left‑wing party Razem joined the criticism; activist Adam Kościelak called the treatment of whistleblowers “one of the governing coalition’s favourite hobbies.”

If Mayor Trzaskowski says that whistleblowers in Warsaw have official channels for reporting irregularities, then this example shows how it works in practice. Or rather, what a fiction it is.

Legal steps

Attorney Bartosz Lewandowski, representing Piotr, announced on 26 June 2026 that he had submitted a notification to the National Prosecutor’s Office of a possible crime under Article 55 of the Whistleblower Protection Act of 14 June 2024, concerning retaliatory actions. He stressed that harassment and intimidation of whistleblowers must stop, calling it a “sick practice.” Piotr has already appealed his dismissal to the labour court.