Political surplus of whistleblowing: a case study (original) (raw)
Related papers
Speech is silver but silence is gold is an age old proverb. But is silence always gold? There are times when cost of silence can be very high and may cost innocent lives too! In such grave situations, some people show the courage to stand up and speak out and save others from wrongdoing and injustice. Whistleblowers are such brave people who blow the lid off malpractices, corruption and wrongdoing happening around them. Whistleblowing refers to reporting of illegal, unethical, immoral or illegitimate practices within an organization to appropriate authorities for a corrective action. The purpose of this paper is to review existing literature on whistleblowing and study what consequences whistleblowers normally face. An attempt has been made to examine the legislation prevalent in different parts of the world for whistleblower protection. It also highlights some prominent cases across the world to suggest the strong need for increasing the legal protection to whistleblowers and some suggestions for effectiveness. As Albert Einstein has rightly said, " The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil but because of those who look on and do nothing! " As such, it is very important to speak up in the face of wrong doing and not just being a silent spectator.
Whistleblowing: A restrictive definition and interpretation
Journal of Business Ethics, 1999
Whistleblowing has been defined often and in differing ways in the literature. This paper has as its main purposes to clarify the meaning of whistleblowing and to speak for a narrow interpretation of it. A restrictive, general purpose definition is provided which contains six necessary elements: act of disclosure, actor, disclosure subject, target, disclosure recipient, and outcome.
Need of the Hour: Reformation in the Scope of Whistleblower Policies and Protection
SSRN Electronic Journal
The world has seemingly taken a step back from when Time Magazine declared it to be the year of "Whistleblowers" in 2002. Even if the best legislations are in place, the status of a whistleblower will inevitably receive a hard blow. While employers can't retaliate directly, there is no check on unfair appraisal and deliberate over-burdening. There is lack of protection due to the restrictive nature of the definition of a whistleblower and the complicated process of "whistleblowing" that dissuades whistleblowers from coming forward. This paper analyses cases in which there has been inadequate protection of whistleblowers and throws light on scandals, political and economic, that could have been avoided if the laws in place were efficient. While the guidelines and checklist put-forth by the OECD on protection of whistleblowers from retaliation is well received, it has underperformed in expanding the scope, restricting itself to employees and the corporate world. The updated UN Whistleblower Policy 2017, addresses similar issues but faces the same pitfall of a restricted approach. This paper recognizes the need for a tradeoff between privacy and societal welfare, which is the ultimate goal of whistleblowing. The process followed for whistleblowing in the classified system is also in need of change. Activity tends to be hidden here. Intelligence committees should establish a direct and secure system for intake in order for whistleblowers to confidentially disclose information while unclassified reports could be released on what action has been taken for whistle blower complaints. Sarbanes Oxley provides for protection but there are procedural and substantive issues; problems of timelines obedience, one-sided submission, accessing witnesses and the mandatory arbitration agreement that provides as another obstacle making protection unsuccessful. Amendments to the act are recommended. A comparison is made between whistleblowing mechanisms worldwide to draw parallels and bring out loopholes to be looked into, to ensure protection of whistleblowers. However, the paper recognizes the vice of false-complaints and the current judicial trend of awarding a percentage of the fraudulent company's pecuniary penalty to the whistleblower and how it may feed other employees' propensity to complain. The paper calls for a change in the name of "Whistleblowers" itself. It has a patrioteer connotation; a simple Google search offers, "snitch" as the synonym. The study brings out the importance of an effective mechanism for protection, and questions whether the law has the capacity to bring about a change in societal perception of whistleblowers.
Review of Robert G. Vaughn, The Successes and Failures of Whistleblower Laws
2013
Whistleblower laws are a source of both hope and frustration. When whistleblowers suffer reprisals, as so many of them do, the solution is widely assumed to be legal protection. When journalists ring me about whistleblowing matters, they frequently ask about whistleblower laws, assuming they are more important than anything else. However, many whistleblowers have learned to their dismay that legal protection looks much better on paper than it pans out in reality. For two decades, members of Whistleblowers Australia have pushed for whistleblower laws, and at the same time have been persistent critics of the weaknesses of the laws on the books. It should be noted that governments, in passing whistleblower laws for all the states and territories in Australia, have seldom consulted whistleblowers-or, when they have, not taken much notice of their advice.
The Management of Whistleblowing
Encyclopedia of Criminal Activities and the Deep Web, 2020
Corporate scandals have cost organizations and economies billions of dollars in direct and indirect costs. Whistleblowing has often been underutilized as a disclosure mechanism for rooting out and managing such illegal and unethical business practices due to the high personal costs on the whistleblower. However, once such issues are managed, whistleblowing has the potential to be a powerful tool in the management of corporate wrongdoing. This article examines the role of whistleblowing in the management of corporate wrongdoing and presents a managerial framework to maximize the effectiveness of whistleblowing. The usefulness of the managerial framework is assessed, and recommendations are made to enhance the effectiveness of whistleblowing.
White Paper on the Law of Whistleblowing
2013
Whistleblowers play an important role in fighting corruption, in protecting the public and the environment from harm, and in providing accountability for the violation of legal norms. When an individual blows the whistle on alleged wrongdoing, she may suffer severe financial consequences. The law recognizes the social good that can come from whistleblowing by providing some protection for them and encouraging such conduct in a variety of ways. This paper provides a definition of whistleblowing, describes five distinct ways that the law encourages it, and identifies some of the key legal concepts found in the law of whistleblowing, including the tension between whistleblowing and other legal norms.