Soc 402 Contemporary Social Problems & the Workplace - Employees and Whistleblowing

Employees and Whistleblowing

Jodi Stanley

SOC 402:  Contemporary Social Problems & the Workplace

Prof. Susan Fournier

March 20, 2018

Whistleblowing and Employees

        There are many issues that may arise when employees see things that are not right within the place employment. This can open the door to whistleblowing.  The article “Combating corruption: The development of whistleblowing laws in the United States, Europe, and Armenia” states, “This is the definition of whistleblowing adopted in this article: An act of an individual within an organization who discloses information in order to report and correct corruption” (Schultz & Harutyunyan, 2015).  People have been known to extort others because they see things that are not right.  There are employees that may get bigger bonuses to be kept quiet.  People who whistle blow at any job can be in danger of retaliation.  Employees have to be very careful how they go about whistleblowing at the place employment but especially the federal government.  The article “

        The first documented timeline for whistleblowing goes all the way back to the year 1773.  The article “The Timeline of US Whistleblowers” discusses, “1773 – Confidential letters exposed by Benjamin Franklin proved the governor of Massachusetts misled Parliament to promote a military buildup in the new world. The governor was dishonorably discharged and exiled” (NA, 2018).  During this time these people were not considered whistleblowers but rather snitches or rogues. There have been examples over and over again and really became the ethical thing to do starting in the 1960’s.  It is ironic that during the time when people came to frontline to march for peace there was a lot more honesty going on within the government and private businesses.  Almost every year since 1962 all the way to 2013 there is documentation of whistleblowing cases. There were multiple cases of whistleblowing within the same years throughout the 2000’s.  It is ironic that the government has incentive plans for whistleblowers however I have seen first what hand what happen to a whistleblower and it is not a financial payout for having the right ethics and morals.  The article “Protecting Whistleblowing (and Not Just Whistleblowers) ´states, “To combat fraud, Congress has developed several statutory frameworks to encourage whistleblowers to come forward and report wrongdoing in exchange for a monetary reward. The federal False Claims Act allows whistleblowers to file an action in federal court on behalf of the United States, and to share in any recovery” (Ballan, 2017).  These same laws are supposed to protect the whistleblower from any type of retaliation as well keeping the employer from interfering with the investigation (Ballan, 2017).  

        Whistleblowing can be found in the private and the public sector.  There have been many companies in the private sector such as Enron and WorldCom that have folded due to people being corrupt and good Samaritan with ethics and morals did the whistleblowing.  The article “Determinants of Whistleblowing Within Government Agencies” states, “Whistleblowing works as the most critical factor to prosecute wrongdoers in that whistleblowers are insiders who can make strong testimony supported by evidence. Because whistleblowers are insiders, they possess information that may not be available to outsiders and they can identify the best source of information that will work as strong evidence” (Cho & Song, 2015).  Once the whistleblower decides to take their information to the proper authorities they have to be prepared for any consequences that may come their way even with laws to protect the whistleblower.  The article “Whistleblowing 101” states. “Despite the importance of this role, there are many personal and professional risks that a whistleblower must weigh. These considerations, as discussed below, include loss of reputation, increased stress levels, and a potentially significant time commitment. In addition, there is a possibility that the whistleblower may experience a change in employment, either voluntarily or due to retaliation” (Archambeault & Webber, 2015).  This makes many people not want to be honest and use their best judgement when it comes to corrupt businesses.  

        Working around the federal government I have seen first hand what corrupt upper management can do to the public, workers, and many veterans.  There were many veterans that died because upper management tried to hide fake appointment lists just so they could keep getting their bonuses.  Is money more important to these individuals than the lives that served our country and allowed these so called upper management people to not only have but keep their jobs.  Even when someone gets caught at the VA doing corrupt things they either get pushed into retirement if they are old enough or they will just get moved to a different location most likely in the same position making the same money.  There are some people that have been red handed doing wrong doing and got demoted but still make the same financial pay.

        The main places that whistleblowing occurs is within healthcare environments, banking/finance, and many government agencies including the Department of Veterans Affairs.  According to the article “Protecting Whistleblowing (and Not Just Whistleblowers)” explains “By all accounts, the FCA is alive and well today. In 2014, the Department of Justice announced that it had obtained a record $5.69 billion in settlements and judgments from over 700 whistleblower cases.40 Senator Chuck Grassley, an outspoken advocate of the FCA, has called it “hands down, the most effective tool the government has to fight fraud against the taxpayers,” arguing that “without whistleblowers, the government simply does not have the capability to identify and prosecute the ever-expanding and creative schemes to bilk the taxpayers” (Ballan, 2017).  This is a positive and negative outlay.  The positive part is that people are being caught for stealing from consumer and their employees and are being punished.  The hopeful outcome would be that people would learn they cannot get away with being corrupt and try to make more money than they get paid legally.  The negatives are that it can cost many innocent people their jobs and also cause a whole business to fold.  This can cause devastation to consumers and the communities around the businesses.  Whistleblowing is not only to come forward about fraud but also many other things such as racism, sexual harassment, environmental spills, and even sex trafficking like in 2001.  One of the biggest whistleblowing cases that I still do not know what is true and what is not true is during the 911 attack and how much was truly known prior to the attack.  There were many people that came out after the fact to be whistleblowers on what they believed to be the truth.