The Road to Whistleblowing: A Review Through Cases

Abstract

Numerous corporate scandals in the recent years have left the public wondering as to why situations such as cooking the books and other fraudulent activity go unreported for so long. Many times employees are aware of such frauds developing in their companies, but they fail to speak out because of fear. Yet fear is only one of the major reasons why potential whistleblowers hesitate immensely when considering blowing the whistle. Laws prior to these scandals did little to protect whistleblowers from negative results such as retaliation from employers. As a result, the public did not know frauds in companies until they became extremely out of hand and were as a result, highly publicized. The problem with not reporting frauds until they are massive is the fact that they become extremely costly and often cost taxpayers millions of dollars. This research will be based on the analysis of several whistleblowing cases in order to evaluate the effectiveness of whistleblowing laws in providing appropriate protection to whistleblowers. It will not only provide information on each case, but also will go into the several negative repercussions that each whistleblower faced after blowing the whistle. The purpose of this research is to provide business students as well as the public with more information regarding the concerns of whistleblowers when attempting to blow the whistle, as well as with current laws that are in place for the protection of whistleblowers such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and Dodd-Frank Act of 2010.