A whistleblower is an employee or former employee of an organization who reports misconduct to people or entities that have the power to take corrective action. Whistleblowers are most often employees of businesses but are commonly employees of government agencies. Generally the misconduct is a violation of law, rule, or regulation and/or a direct threat to public interest -- fraud, health and safety violations, or corruption are just a few examples. For instance, Jeffrey Wigand is a well-known whistleblower in the United States for his role in the Big Tobacco scandal, revealing that executives of the companies knew that cigarettes were addictive and that they added other carcinogenic ingredients to the cigarettes.

It is a popular myth that only the most severe cases of corporate or governmental corruption that results in substantial public harm precipitate a whistleblowing. While these instances are the most newsworthy, any kind of misconduct may initiate the whistleblowing process and the vast majority of cases are instigated by relatively minor misconduct. By far the most common type of whistleblowers are internal whistleblowers, who report misconduct to another employee or superior within the company or agency, while external whistleblowers report to outside people or entities. Depending on the severity and nature of the wrong-doing, whistleblowers will usually report to lawyers, the media, law enforcement or watchdog agencies, or to local, state, or federal agencies.

Role-prescribed whistleblowing, for example whistleblowing done by quality control personnel or internal auditors, does not necessarily constitute whistleblowing in the traditional sense, chiefly because their reporting of misconduct is mandated. If the disclosure is specifically prohibited by law or is specifically required by executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense the reporting by a whistleblower might constitute treason.

Reactions to whistleblowing

Perceptions of whistleblowing vary widely. Some perceive whistleblowers as selfless martyrs for public interest and organizational accountability, while others view them as "snitches", solely pursuing personal glory and fame. Because the majority of cases are very low-profile and receive little or no media attention and because whistleblowers who do report significant misconduct are usually put in some form of danger or persecution, the later view is generally less held.

Persecution of whistleblowers has become a serious issue in most nations. Although whistleblowers are often protected under law from employer retaliation, there have been many cases where punishment for whistleblowing has occurred. As a reaction to this many private organizations have formed whistleblower legal defense funds or support groups to assist whistleblowers; one such example in the UK is Public Concern at Work. Depending on the circumstances, it is not uncommon for whistleblowers to be ostracized by their co-workers, discriminated against by future potential employers, or even fired from their organization.

Whistleblower law

Legal protection for whistleblowing varies from country to country. In the UK, the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1988 provides a framework of legal protection for individuals who disclose information so as to expose malpractice and matters of similar concern. In the vernacular, it protects whistleblowers from victimisation and dismissal.

Famous whistleblowers

• Daniel Ellsberg - a former State Department analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971, the US military's account of activities in Vietnam, to The New York Times, which some say contributed to the eroision of public support for the war.

• Deep Throat - secret informant who in 1972 leaked information about United States President Richard Nixon's involvement in Watergate. The scandal would eventually lead to the resignation of the president, and prison terms for White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman and presidential adviser John Ehrlichman.

• Cynthia Cooper of Worldcom, Sherron Watkins of Enron, and Coleen Rowley of the FBI who exposed corporate scandals in 2002 and were selected as Time's People of the Year.

• Katharine Gun - a former employee of Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), a British intelligence agency who in 2003 leaked top-secret information to the press concerning illegal activities by the United States and the United Kingdom in their push for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

• Joseph Darby - a member of the United States military police who in 2004 first alerted the U.S. military command of prisoner abuse in the Abu Ghraib prison, in Abu Ghraib, Iraq.

• Walter DeNino, student who questioned Eric Poehlman's integrity

• Paul van Buitenen, who accused European Commission members of corruption.

See: Category:Whistleblowers

See also

• Dissent
• Labor law
• False Claims Law
• Witness Protection Program

Sources

• Miethe, Terance D (1991). Whistleblowing at work : tough choices in exposing fraud, waste, and abuse on the job. Westview Press. ISBN 0813335493.

External links

• US Government Accountability Project
• US National Whistleblower Project
• The Truth-Telling Project - Project formed by whistleblowers Daniel Ellsberg and Katharine Gun
• Public Concern at Work - the leading UK authority on Public Disclosure
• Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 from Her Majesty's Stationery Office