Module-1: Whistle Blowing

The term “whistle-blowing” originates from the practice of British policemen who blew their whistles whenever they observed commission of a crime. Some experts believe that the term whistleblowing originally came from sports where referee blows their whistle to ensure that there is no foul play involved in the match. 

Whistle blowing means calling the attention of the top management to some wrongdoing occurring within an organization. Whistleblowing is the act of revealing inappropriate activities, often anonymously, to parties within or outside the organization with the purpose of alerting individuals who can take corrective action.

Whistle-blowing is the first line of defense fororganisations to uncover and mitigate activities of fraud and other malpractices. It plays a vital role in supporting ethics and compliance programmes for organisations.  Whistle-blowing is also an alternate mode for communication between employees and management when other formal channels may present a barrier and are not supportive enough in revealing serious act of misconducts.

Definitions

R M Green (1994) defines a whistleblower as an Employee who, perceing an organizational practice that he believe to be illegal or unethical, seeks to stop this practice. By alerting top management or failing that by notifying outside the organization

Sekhar (2002) defines whistleblowing as an attempt by an employee ora former employee of an organization to disclose what he proclaims to be wrongdoing in or by that organization.

Boatright (2003) said that whistle blowing is the release of information by a member or former member of an organization that there is evidence of illegal and/or immoral conduct in the organization that is not in the public interest

Koehn (2003) whistleblowing occurs when an employee informs the public of inappropriate activities going on inside the organization.

Also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower is a person, usually an employee, who exposes information or activity within a private, public, or government organization that is deemed illegal, illicit, unsafe, or a waste, fraud, or abuse of taxpayer funds

“The purpose of whistleblowing is to expose secret and wrongful acts by those in power to enable reform.”

        — Glenn Greenwald 

Objectives of whistle-blowing:

•      To encourage employees to bring ethical and legal violations they are aware of to an internal authority so that action can be taken immediately to resolve the problem

•      To minimize the organization’s exposure to the damage that can occur when employees circumvent internal mechanisms

•      To let employees know the organization is serious about adherence to codes of conduct

The subject matter for whistleblowing may be about Board /senior management or the executor staff who committed the perceived offence/crime

Many organisations face challenges in establishing a robust whistle-blowing mechanism and subsequently have less convincing reporting channels that encourage employees to report suspicious incidents.

The whistleblowing is a four state process:

A triggering event occurs, involving questionable, unethical or illegal activities and this leads to an employee to consider blowing the whistle

The employee engages in decision making , assessing the activity and whether it involves wrongdoing , gathering additional information and discussing the situation with others

The employee excercises voice by blowing the whistle, alternatively , the employee could exit the organization or remain silent out of loyalty or neglect

Organization members react to, and possibly retaliate against the whistleblower

Classification

Whistleblowing is classified into two depending on where the wind has gone meaning to which authority the communication is passed on.  If the whistle blower has given the communication to an internal authority, then it may be termed as internal whistle blowing . if the communication is addressed to an external authority, it is called external whistle blowing.

Based on  the manner the reporting is done, whistle blowing is classified into three:

 

•      Open reporting: Where individuals openly report or disclose information, or state that they do not endeavour to ensure or require their identity to be kept secret.

•      Confidential reporting: Where the name and identity of the individual who disclosed information is known by the recipient, but will not be disclosed without the individual's consent, unless required by law.

•      Anonymous reporting: Where a report or information is received, but no one knows the source.

•      United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime(UNODC)- 2015

When a former employee is doing whistleblowing, it is called Alumni whistleblowing. When it is intended to harm just one person, it is called personal whistleblowing. When the disclosure is about wrong doing in a corporate organization, it is called corporate whistleblowing.

 

In the Enron Corporation(2001) case it is internal whistle blowing being communicated by Sherron Watkins  Senior Vice President to Kenneth Lay, Chairman


In the K T Jaleel , Minister of Higher Education, Govt of Kerala (2021) case, it is externalwhistleblowing being taken up with Lokayuktha , an external legal body created for attending misuse of power by people in authority.


Arguments against Whistle Blower Protection

•      Firstly, Law recognises whistle blowing as a right is open to abuse: Employees might find an excuse to blow the whistle in order to cover up their own incompetency or inadequate performance.

•      Secondly, Legislation to protect whistle blowers could add on rights to employees and make an environment difficult for managers to run company effectively.

Arguments for Whistle Blower Protection

•      Firstly, Defence of the Law protect whistle blowers to provide best contributions to the society.

•      Secondly, Defence of the Law supports the right of an employee on his freedom to speech

Whistleblowing is seen as a very effective tool to combat fraud. Indeed, in its 2018 ACFE Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners reported that tips are by far the most common initial detection method with 46% of all cases being detected by a tip. The same report also states that fraud losses were 50% smaller at organisations with whistleblowing hotlines than those without.

While the rise of whistleblowing started with the 2007-08 global financial crisis, and the resulting drive for a crackdown on corporate corruption, today the benefits of having a whistleblowing system in place stretch far wider than uncovering financial irregularities.

In fact, in our most recent customer study on organisational whistleblowing, 50% of the participants responded that building trust was the main benefit of a whistleblowing system. This indicates that whistleblowing has moved from being an early warning hotline to an important part of the organisational ethics toolkit.

Whistleblowing is unique in that itgives everybody in the organisation, and often also external stakeholders, the opportunity to report a concern if they see something they suspect is against the organisation's ethical principles. These concerns may relate to environmental crimes, major deficiencies in workplace security or serious forms of discrimination or harassment – all matters that are considered potential whistleblowing cases.

Ethical Dilemmas of the Whistleblower

       I.            Supervisor’s condemnation
    II.            Colleagues condemnation
 III.            Loyalty to the company
 IV.            Evidence against the wrong one


For an act of whistleblowing to be morally justified, it needs to fulfill three conditions:

(a)    Disclosures should meet certain communicative constraints;

(b)    It must be done with the right kind of intent;

(c)     It addresses issues of public interest

Situation when all facts of information are properly understood with their significance: –

  • A Whistle Blower must do much documentation and other corrections as possible because he/she is strong obliged to people
  • An Employee should not jump into conclusion without much clarification.
  • If significance of information is genuine it could be justified.
  • All internal channels have to be utilised without a step short of Whistle Blowing: –
    • Whistle Blowing should be last not the first resort.
    • Its justified when there is no morally preferable alternatives.

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