Whistleblowing

Do Whistleblower Awards Lead to More Whistleblowing? The ethics of whistleblowing is a tricky matter. Whistle-blowing brings two moral values, fairness and loyalty, into conflict. Doing what is fair or just (e.g., promoting an employee based on talent alone) often conflicts with showing loyalty (e.g., promoting a longstanding but unskilled employee). Taken to its extreme […]

One’s Motive for Acting is the Key Is whistleblowing a moral practice? Different views exist on this important issue. Generally, the act of whistleblowing should be motivated by good intentions – i.e., to right a wrong. On the other hand, if the motive is to gain a financial reward or retaliate against a company for

Workplace Ethics Advice  If an employee knows that a co-worker or supervisor is doing something that is against company policy, the first step is to determine what are the prescribed steps to bring these matters of concern to the proper authorities within the organization. Many organizations have whistle-blowing protocols, such as reporting the matter to

The Message: Don’t Do the Crime Unless You Want to be Rewarded I’ve blogged many times before about whistleblowing, including whether it is an ethical action. Some would say that whistleblowing is a courageous act to right a wrong, and because the whistleblower may be discriminated against for coming forward, and/or suffer the penalty of

Have the Courts Gone Too Far in Protecting Whistleblowers? On January 26, 2018, Charles Matthew Erhart struck a blow for all would-be whistleblowers when he achieved a significant win on a critical challenge that nearly all corporate whistleblowers often face – whether they can use confidential company documents to expose fraud and other illegality.  District

Here’s Why Dodd-Frank Worker Retaliation Protections Have Been Turned on Their Head Thinking about blowing the whistle on wrongdoing at your organization? Well, you need to read on because the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on February 21, 2018, in the case Digital Realty Trust, Inc. v. Somers changes the rules of the game. Employees who

Fairness and Loyalty Effects on the Morality of Blowing the Whistle Imagine you’re thinking about blowing the whistle on your employer. You will face a moral quandary: Is reporting misdeeds an act of heroism or betrayal? It makes sense that whistle-blowing brings these two moral values, fairness and loyalty, into conflict. Doing what is fair

Developing an Effective Whistleblowing Program Does a strong workplace ethic that promotes whistleblowing enhance the moral actions of corporations? Yes, is the short answer. As we found out during the frauds at companies like Enron and WorldCom, as well as the financial recession, corrupt organizations can only be stopped through whistleblowing. Cynthia Cooper is a