Whistleblowers: Truth and Consequences

Employees who report unethical or illegal activities of their employers are called whistleblowers 35 states have laws that protect whistleblowers from recrimination. Nevertheless, whistleblowers have found that reporting unethical or illegal actions by their companies has consequences.

A recent survey of businesspeople concluded that whistleblowing is often a professional hazard. However, individuals who actually report unethical or illegal practices invariably say that they would do it again. According to one whistleblower, "The advice has to be: do what you have to do."

Additional advice given by whistleblowers:

Document your claims scrupulously. There is no one more vulnerable than a whistleblower who can't prove his or her case. Talk to a lawyer outside the company. For example, the National Whistleblower Center in Washington, D.C. makes legal referrals. Plan for the worst. Although some whistleblowers have successfully expressed their conscience, others have not. They have found it necessary to seek employment elsewhere and to defend their claims in court, often incurring large legal expenses

. __________ Source: Randi L. Sims and John P. Keenan, “Predictors of External Whistleblowing: Organizational and Intrapersonal Variables,” Journal of Business Ethics (March 1998), pp. 411–421; "A Whistle-Blower Gets His Reward," Business Week (August 28, 1995), p. 38; Joseph L. Badaracco, Jr. and Allen P. Webb, "Business Ethics: A View from the Trenches," California Management Review (Winter 1995), pp. 8–28.