Blog Post #8 - EOTO Terms & Concepts

 What is a Whistleblower?

In 2002, three women were named the “Person(s) of the Year” by TIME magazine who were whistleblowers within the large organizations of the FBI, Enron, and WorldCom. Why were their actions recognized and praised by some?

A whistleblower is ​​”an individual who, without authorization, reveals private or classified information about an organization, usually related to wrongdoing or misconduct.” While the term first only applied to government employees, it can now refer to private company employees. Would we all agree it is a good thing when the wrongdoings of a company are exposed and hopefully amended? A positive of the choice to whistle blow is the fact commitment to the public is recognized and remains. In fact, fraud detection is increased through this action as the majority of fraud is detected initially by tips provided by employees.

Unfortunately, whistleblowing is only justified if it meets certain requirements and there is possible or likely retaliation from the company exposed. This “occurs when an employer (through a manager, supervisor, or administrator) fires an employee or takes any other type of adverse action against an employee for engaging in protected activity.” This risk can lead some to go to extreme measures to escape the backlash after whistleblowing. One example is Edward Snowden, who left the country and has been living in Russia for the past decade.

Snowden was working for the NSA in Hawaii during 2013, observing electronic data collection and found it rubbed him the wrong way. He stated, "We had stopped watching specific terrorists, and we had started watching everyone just in case they became a terrorist.” He traveled to Russia in hopes of getting to Ecuador, but U.S. officials canceled his passport after he copied and shared files with American journalists of the NSA's top-secret surveillance programs. He was charged with being in violation of the Espionage Act as it was believed by some, he caused significant harm to our nation and our allies. 

This concept can involve a huge power struggle as lower-level employees, with usually lower income, may feel like they have less power to effect change and report the wrongdoings of staff with higher tenure they see. When new to a job, employees understandably, don’t want to do anything that may jeopardize their position and sole income, so they will choose to stay silent out of fear. To help battle this situation,  it has begun being recommended organizations start a special training program to instruct how to communicate reports of wrongdoing and feel more at ease to do so. If recently hired, an employee may also care less about the organization's reputation and just not care enough to report any misconduct they may come across.

Whistleblowing can also be influenced by the bystander effect, which means when there are more than one witnesses to a wrongdoing, each witness’s likelihood of blowing the whistle goes; due to the diffusion of responsibility, everyone assumes their individual responsibility is decreased because someone else who saw the incident will take care of it. I'm going to give you a hint: no one took care of it. 

While Snowden’s charges still stand, many look down on his actions, call him a traitor, and believe he should return to the U.S. and be held accountable, times are changing. Now years after his actions, whistleblowers have protection through agencies and laws that encourage diversity, outreach, and support for employees. Some assisting offices and acts include the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration, The Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, and ​​The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. A huge step in the right direction was taken in 2015 when the U.S.A Freedom Act was rewritten to prohibit the bulk collection of phone records by American citizens.

There will always be criticism against the choice to whistle blow and it will likely remain a risky option even when it is the only solution and for the greater good. Thankfully there are consistent efforts to improve the government and large companies' transparency with Americans. We can hope they lead us towards a time where whistleblowing isn’t necessary as often and misconduct is not hidden from the public eye.