Eni & Me: 24 Years of Silence and Retaliation

Today marks 24 long and painful years of a solitary fight for justice, after I reported misconduct at the Brazilian branch of the Italian oil giant ENI.

Since then, I have faced systematic retaliation, SLAPP-style lawsuits, career destruction, and attacks on my honor and dignity — all met with the complicit silence of the company’s controlling shareholder: the Italian government.

In this article, I share a summary of this journey, hoping that my story will help shed light on a structural problem that still silences whistleblowers around the world — despite the paradox that corporate Codes of Ethics encourage reporting and promise protection against retaliation.

Click here to read my article on LinkedIn.

Eni & ISO 37301:2021

Did you know that not every ISO certification is truly reliable? The recent case involving Eni and the ISO 37301:2021 certification issued by RINA SERVICES — a certifying body not accredited to grant this certification — reveals a serious flaw in the international certification system: certifications granted without proper official accreditation can be used as tools for misleading ethical marketing — or worse, "ethicswashing".

In this article, I detail how this situation exposes institutional and reputational risks that can undermine the credibility of ISO standards, stakeholder trust, and the role of national accreditation bodies.

If you care about integrity, transparency, and the real effectiveness of compliance systems, this is an urgent topic that needs to be discussed.

👉 Read the full article and reflect with me. Access this LINK. 

ENI: The Queen of SLAPP Lawsuits

It’s not new that the Italian oil giant Eni uses SLAPP lawsuits as a strategy to intimidate, silence, and punish those who dare to challenge its unethical actions.

In my fight — which has lasted nearly 24 years — to reclaim and restore my name, honor, and reputation, severely damaged by systematic reprisals from Eni, I currently face three SLAPP lawsuits: two in the civil sphere (filed in 2010 and 2017) and one in the criminal sphere (filed in 2022), in addition to the silence of the Board of Directors, there are corporate victimhood narratives, constant frustration of mediation procedures, proposals for amicable settlements, and refusals to conduct proper "due diligence".

Along this journey, many others have suffered — and continue to suffer — the fierce bites of the six-legged dog.

The most recent case is that of Antonio Tricarico, executive director of the Italian NGO ReCommon, who has become yet another target in Eni's growing list of "personae non gratae".

Unfortunately, the mainstream media — especially in Italy — remains silent in the face of these attacks on environmental defenders and whistleblowers like myself.

Why this silence? Eni holds an annual advertising budget worth millions of euros, powerful enough to keep many journalists and editors from publishing “negative stories” about major corporations, under pressure from the “owners of the global media”.

And this extends to social media, where algorithms limit the reach of posts that criticize large corporations like Eni.

📎 Note A - Learn more about my story:

1) MEMORIAL

2) TIMELINE OF EVENTS 

📎 Note B - Access to NEWS from The Guardian

Eni and the Marketing of Ethics

Pay close attention to the content of this article, which - although written in 2002 by a Human Resources expert and then - columnist for the "Career & You" section of EXAME magazine, in response to my question regarding my unfair dismissal from the Brazilian subsidiary of the Italian oil giant Eni, in what was proven to be an act of retaliation - unfortunately still reflects the practices of a significant portion of today’s corporate world:

“Social Responsibility, Corporate Governance, and Codes of Ethics are increasingly common topics in business environments. But they are becoming common only in corporate discourse. There is a black box called corporate corruption about which we have very little information. The media and public opinion show great interest when it comes to corruption in the public sector. That same level of scrutiny does not exist in private sector relationships. As a result, a company can build a socially responsible image while sweeping possible violations under the rug.

This can turn extremely important topics into nothing more than marketing slogans. That seems to be what happened in your case. It is good that the company dismissed those involved in the wrongdoing you reported. But one question will remain: How far did the branches of the corruption scheme you helped uncover actually reach?

This is one of the most difficult dilemmas in the corporate world today: What can be done when internal company channels punish professionals who report misconduct? Perhaps the best path is to turn to the courts. In your case, I believe it’s clearly an unjust dismissal that deserves to be taken to court, to seek justice and compensation. 

And note: this won’t just be a personal matter. By taking the case to court, in addition to defending your rights, you will also publicly expose what the company tried to hide by firing you. The company will end up publicly recognized as one that engages in 'ethical marketing'. Such action is important because it sets an example and shows that ethics must go beyond corporate speeches. Of course, there are legal - and possibly criminal - consequences. 

The hardest part will be assessing the impact of such an action on your personal and professional life. It may be seen as an idealistic fight, since nothing guarantees that the corporate corruption black box won’t blacklist you from the job market. That’s a risk.

Surely, there are thousands of companies that operate with true responsibility. But we still don’t know what the real impact of transparency on the corporate world will be. If cases like yours start making it to court, it’s possible that transparency will reach all companies faster”.

Calculated and conscious attitudes

During these nearly 24 long years, the actions of the Italian oil giant Eni were intentionally malicious, cruel, and unjust, always aimed at causing me harm and suffering. These actions reflect a complete lack of empathy and reveal a degradation of ethical standards. In a calculated and deliberate manner, Eni acted with the purpose of harming me, completely disregarding the values of respect, integrity, and justice, as well as its corporate commitments, including its Code of Ethics, and international commitments "accepted" and "followed" by the company, such as the "OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises", the "UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights", and the "Global Compact".

✅ Learn more about my nearly 24-year-long journey to reclaim and restore my name, honor, and reputation - which have been systematically undermined by Eni through ongoing retaliation, including three SLAPP-style lawsuits filed in Italy in 2010, 2017, and 2022, respectively: 

1) "Fully proven facts known to the Board of Directors of Eni";

2) "Chronology of Facts" (2001 to 2022).