1. One definition of whistle blowing is exposing a company's fraud, injustice, illegal or unethical conduct or abuse by an employee of that company. Thomas Riesenberg (2001) writes in Business Lawyer that the Securities Exchange Act definition of "illegal acts" includes maintenance of non-fraudulent but quantitatively inaccurate books and records, weak internal controls, or violations of the federal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The Commission even suggested that "personal misconduct" of a corporation's officers or directors meaning misconduct unrelated to business activities--is included within the definition (p. 1417).
Whistle blowing is justified in situations in which companies take actions that are illegal or unethical. Whistle blowing is justified because society benefits from the activity. Whistle blowing is a selfless act. There are numerous examples in the literature of individuals whose careers ended in ruin because they chose to act ethically and "blow the whistle" on their employer's illegal or unethical activities.
There are moral and ethical issues surrounding whistle blowing. The most obvious issues relates to loyalty. Specifically, an employee owes a 'duty of loyalty' to their employer. In one sense, whistle blowing is an act of disloyal. There is also the question of trust and the protection of confidential information. Again, employees have a duty to their employer to safeguard confidential information, but whistle blowing often requires the employee to reveal confidential information to law enforcement or other government or regulatory agency. Another ethical dilemma facing whistle blowers is the damage they might do to their co-workers. In all three examples, whistle blowers must weigh and contrast their duty to their employer to a 'greater good.'
Richard Clarke (1999) recommends in Healthcare Financial Management that companies institute a formal mechanism wherein employees can freely report...