Whistle-blowing

Presented by ~ Amit K. De
 Definition of Whistle-Blower
 One who is a member or former member of
an organization, reveals wrong-doing within
an organization to the public or to those in
positions of authority.
 One who discloses information about
misconduct or illegal or immoral activities in
their workplace that they feel violates the law
or endangers the welfare of others.
 One who speaks out, typically to expose
corruption or dangers to the public or
environment as a moral protest.
Types of Whistle-Blowing
Internal Whistle- External Whistle-
Blowing Blowing

 When an individual  When an individual

advocates beliefs or advocates beliefs or
revelations within revelations outside
the organization to the organization to
those in positions of public.
authority
Characteristics of a
Whistleblower
 Altruistically Motivated
 Utilitarian
 Uninterested in Altering
Their Behavior
 Allows Own Attitudes
and Beliefs to Guide
Them
 Often are Well Educated
and Holds Professional
Positions
 Effects of Whistle-Blowing
• Forced to leave • Physical or
organization/demotion psychological isolation
• Credibility ruined • Organization
• Family, health, and/or experiences loss of
life in jeopardy money, restitution,
• Outrage and productivity, and
divisiveness of people positive reputations.
directly or indirectly • Incarceration
involved
 Whistle-Blowing
Always the LAST RESORT, it indicates serious
corporate culture problems
Can be internal as well as external
“Whistle-blowing” - the act of a man or woman who,
believing that the public interest overrides the
interest of the organization he[shc] serves, publicly
“blows the whistle” if the organization is involved in
corrupt, illegal, fraudulent, or harmful activity
Conditions for justified whistle
blowing
 Is The situation of
sufficient moral
importance to justify
whistle blowing?
 Do the whistle-
blower have all the
facts which he has
properly
understood?
 Have all internal
steps & channels
been exhausted?
 More Moral Dilemmas

Waste dumping
“On a midnight shift, a botched solution of sodium cyanide, a
reactant in an organic synthesis, is temporarily stored in drums
for reprocessing. Two weeks later, the day shift foreman
cannot find the drums. Roy, the plant manager, finds out that
the batch had been illegally dumped into the sanitary sewer.
He severely disciplines the night shift foreman. Upon making
discrete inquiries, he finds out that no apparent harm has
resulted from the dumping.”

Should Roy inform government authorities, as is required by law

in this kind of situation?
Definition depends on one’s point of view:
Some of the enemies of business
now encourage an employee to be
disloyal to the enterprise. They
want to create suspicion and
disharmony and pry into the
proprietary interests of the
business. However this is labelled
-industrial espionage, whistle-
blowing or professional
responsibility - it is another tactic
for spreading disunity and creating
conflict
Moral Guidelines to Whistle-Blowing
It is morally permissible for
engineers to engage in external
whistle-blowing concerning safety:
1. If the harm that will be done by
the product to the public is serious
and considerable
2. If they make their concerns
known to their superiors
3. If getting no satisfaction from
their immediate superiors, they
exhaust the channels available
within the corporation, including
going to the board of directors.
Examples of problems that might
warrant whistle-blowing

Incompetence
Criminal Behavior
Unethical Policies
Threat to Public Safety
Injustices to Workers
 In order for whistle-blowing to be morally
obligatory, the following conditions to be also
satisfied

1. He [or she] must have documented evidence that would

convince a reasonable, impartial observer that his [or her]
view of the situation is correct and the company policy
wrong.

2. There must be strong evidence that making the information

public will in fact prevent the threatened serious harm.

3.He/she has a strong obligation to the people to make sure

that the charges are well-founded because will cause
irreparable harm if turn out to be unfounded.
 CASE STUDY
A Cover Up of Lethal Side Effects of A Newly Marketed Drug

Is it an appropriate situation for whistle-

blowing?
Whether life of people is at stake?
What is if the side-effects are not lethal but
can cause temporary discomfort or pain?
What if the drug is the most effective
treatment of a serious medical problem?
Whether the harm is a direct & predictable
result of the protesting activity?