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    Whistle Blowing

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    JieYee Tay
    This document discusses the ethical issues surrounding whistleblowing. It defines whistleblowing as when employees report wrongdoing either within or outside their organization. Whistleblowing creates a conflict between employees' duty of loyalty to their employer and their duty to the public. The document outlines the various ethical considerations involved, including utility, beneficence, nonmaleficence, liberty, and justice. It also examines criteria for justified whistleblowing, conditions whistleblowers should consider, components of effective whistleblowing policies, and different philosophical approaches to the issue.

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    Whistle Blowing

    Uploaded by

    JieYee Tay
    136 views17 pages
    This document discusses the ethical issues surrounding whistleblowing. It defines whistleblowing as when employees report wrongdoing either within or outside their organization. Whistleblowing creates a conflict between employees' duty of loyalty to their employer and their duty to the public. The document outlines the various ethical considerations involved, including utility, beneficence, nonmaleficence, liberty, and justice. It also examines criteria for justified whistleblowing, conditions whistleblowers should consider, components of effective whistleblowing policies, and different philosophical approaches to the issue.

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    This document discusses the ethical issues surrounding whistleblowing. It defines whistleblowing as when employees report wrongdoing either within or outside their organization. Whistleblowing creates a conflict between employees' duty of loyalty to their employer and their duty to the public. The document outlines the various ethical considerations involved, including utility, beneficence, nonmaleficence, liberty, and justice. It also examines criteria for justified whistleblowing, conditions whistleblowers should consider, components of effective whistleblowing policies, and different philosophical approaches to the issue.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    136 views17 pages

    Whistle Blowing

    Uploaded by

    JieYee Tay
    This document discusses the ethical issues surrounding whistleblowing. It defines whistleblowing as when employees report wrongdoing either within or outside their organization. Whistleblowing creates a conflict between employees' duty of loyalty to their employer and their duty to the public. The document outlines the various ethical considerations involved, including utility, beneficence, nonmaleficence, liberty, and justice. It also examines criteria for justified whistleblowing, conditions whistleblowers should consider, components of effective whistleblowing policies, and different philosophical approaches to the issue.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    of 17

    Whistle-Blowing

    Ronald F. White, Ph.D.


    Professor of Philosophy
    College of Mount St. Joseph

    What is Whistle-Blowing?
    The term whistle-blower was initially used to describe
    government employees who went public with complaints of
    corruption or mismanagement but it is now applied to
    employees in the private sector as well. Whistle-blowing is
    ethically problematic because it involves a conflict between
    an employees obligation to his or her company and a
    general obligation to the public. Employees are required not
    only to do the work they are assigned but also to be loyal to
    their employer, preserve the confidentiality of company
    information, and work in the best interest of the company.
    Deciding when whistle-blowing is morally justified and when
    it is not requires a balancing of many different obligations.
    From: John Boatright , The Ethical Conduct of Business

    Why is it morally
    problematic?
    Conflict of interest
    Loyalty to employer
    Moral
    Legal (contractual)

    Utility
    Beneficence
    Nonmaleficence
    Harm to others
    Harm to self

    Liberty
    Justice

    Abuse of whistle-blowing by Whistle-Blowers


    Retaliation by Stakeholders
    Utility
    Role of Government
    Misinformation by Whistle-Blowers

    Conflict of Interest and


    Obligation
    Conflict of Interest
    Employees interests
    Employer interests
    Social interests

    Conflict of Obligation
    Employee Obligations
    Self and Family
    Employer
    Society

    Employer Obligations
    Stakeholders (stockholders, employees, suppliers etc..)
    Employee

    Loyalty
    Loyalty as a moral obligation
    Agency Problem
    Employee to employer
    Employer to employee
    Other Stakeholders

    Loyalty as a legal obligation


    Contractual obligations

    Utility
    Whistle-Blowing and Harm
    Degree of harm being reported
    Degree of harm resulting from whistleblowing

    Beneficence
    Advance the most important
    interests of others and remove harms
    Whose interests are at stake?

    Non-maleficence
    Do no harm
    Harm of act being reported
    Harm of Whistle-blowing

    Stockholders
    Employees
    Consumers
    Suppliers
    Financiers
    Local Community

    Liberty
    Liberty of Employee
    Right to free speech

    Liberty of Employer
    To conduct business as it sees fit

    Liberty of other employees to


    retaliate.

    Justice
    Treat equals equally and unequals
    unequally.
    Justice in distribution
    Justice in retribution

    Criteria for Whistle-Blowing


    A whistle-blower is a member or former member of an
    organization and not an outsider.
    The information that is revealed by the whistle-blower is
    non-public information and not already-known facts.
    The information concerns some significant misconduct by
    the organization or some of its members.
    The information is revealed outside of the normal
    channels of corporate communication within an
    organization.
    The information is revealed voluntarily and not by a legal
    mandate.
    The information is revealed as a moral protest in order to
    correct some perceived wrong.

    Conditions for Whistleblowing


    Is the situation of sufficient moral importance to justify whistle-blowing?
    How serious is the potential harm compared to the possible benefits? To what extent is the
    harm a predictable and direct result of the protested activity? How imminent is the harm?
    Do you have all the facts and have you properly understood their significance?
    Whistle-blowers must support allegations with adequate evidence and not draw conclusions
    about matters beyond their expertise.
    Have all internal channels and steps short of whistle-blowing been exhausted?
    Most organizations require employees to address concerns with an immediate superior or
    through internal channels of communication.
    What is the best way to blow the whistle?
    To whom should the information be revealed? How much information should be revealed?
    Blowing the whistle in a responsible manner avoids charges of being merely a disgruntled
    employee.
    What is my responsibility in view of my role within the organization?
    An employees position in the organization may increase or decrease an obligation to blow
    the whistle.
    What are the chances for success?
    An employee should only blow the whistle when there is a reasonable chance to achieve
    some public good.

    Components of a Whistle-Blowing
    Policy
    An effectively communicated statement
    of responsibility.
    A clearly-defined procedure for
    reporting.
    Trained personnel to receive and
    investigate reports.
    A commitment to take appropriate
    action.
    A guarantee against retaliation.

    Stockholder Theory
    Approach
    Free Market Approach
    Liberty
    Whistle-blower
    Corporation

    Minimal role of government


    Whistle-Blowing is a private matter
    Law punishes corporate wrong-doing
    Law punishes fraud and employment contractual violations

    Whistle-Blowing Policy
    Employer/employee contractual negotiations

    Result: The free market will punish ill-advised whistleblowing and ill-advised retaliation by employers.

    Stakeholder Theory
    Approach
    Corporations are persons and have
    both moral and legal obligations.
    Categorical Imperative
    Treat Persons as Ends not Means
    Truth-Telling

    Whistle-Blowing Policy
    A public matter requires government
    oversight

    Arguments in Favor of Legality

    Existing Legal Protections


    The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 prohibits retaliation
    against federal employees who report waste and corruption in
    government. The Merit System Protection Board was set up by
    this act to receive and act on complaints of retaliation.
    The Whistle-Blower Protection Act of 1989 further
    strengthened this protection with the creation of the Office of
    Special Counsel for processing whistle-blower reports.
    Anti-retaliation provisions in various pieces of federal
    legislation protect whistle-blowers in both the private and public
    sectors, and some statutes even encourage whistle-blowing in
    fraud cases by awarding a percentage of the funds recovered.
    More than 35 states have laws that protect whistleblowers (although most of these apply only to government
    employees), and many state courts are limiting the grounds on
    which employees may be fired.

    Is there a duty to whistleBlow?


    Is whistle-blowing above and
    beyond the call of duty?
    Risk of retaliation by stakeholders

    Is retaliation by stakeholders morally


    justified?

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