Abstract
Whistleblowing has increased significantly in America during the last two decades. Like blowing a whistle to call attention to a thief, whistleblowing is an attempt by a member or former member of an organization to bring illegal or socially harmful activities of the organization to the attention of the public. This may be done openly or anonymously and may involve any kind of organization, although business corporations and government agencies are most frequently involved. It may also require the whistleblower to violate laws or rules, such as national security regulations, that prohibit the release of certain information. However, because whistleblowing involving national security raises a number of issues not raised by other types, the present discussion is restricted to situations involving business corporations and government agencies concerned with domestic matters.
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Notes and References
See Charles Peters and Taylor Branch, Blowing the Whistle: Dissent in the Public Interest (New York: Praeger, 1972), Chapter 16.
Quoted in Ralph Nader, Peter J. Petkas, and Kate Blackwell, Whistle Blowing (New York: Grossman, 1972), 72.
For a discussion of agency law and its relation to whistleblowers see Lawrence E. Blades “Employment at Will vs. Individual Freedom: On Limiting the Abusive Exercise of Employer Power,” Columbia Law Review 67 (1967), and Philip Blumberg, “Corporate Responsibility and the Employee’s Duty of Loyalty and Obedience: A Preliminary Inquiry,” Oklahoma Law Review 24 (1971), reprinted in part in Tom L. Beauchamp and Norman E. Bowie, Ethical Theory and Business (New York: Prentice- Hall, 1979); and Clyde W. Summers, “Individual Protection Against Unjust Dismissal: Time for a Statute,” Virginia Law Review 62 (1976). See also Nader, op. cit., and David W. Ewing, Freedom Inside the Organization (New York: Dutton, 1977).
Blumberg, op. cit., in Beauchamp and Bowie, p. 311.
Arthur S. Miller, “Whistle Blowing and the Law,” in Nader, op. cit., p. 25.
Com’s report is discussed by Frank von Hippie in “Professional Freedom and Responsibility: The Role of the Professional Society,” in the Newsletter on Science, Technology and Human Values (Number 22, January 1978), pp. 37–42.
Ewing, op. cit., pp. 165–66.
Discussion of the role professional societies have played in whistleblowing can be found in Nader, op. cit., Von Hippie, op. cit., and in Rosemary Chalk, “Scientific Involvement in Whistle Blowing” in the Newsletter on Science, Technology and Human Values, op. cit., pp. 47–51.
These decisions are discussed by Ewing, op. cit., Chapter 6.
Quoted in Blumberg, op. cit., p. 305.
Quoted in Peters and Branch, op. cit., pp. 178–179.
Ibid, pp. x–xi.
Ibid, p. 179.
Ibid, p. 178.
Ibid, p. 269.
Miller op. cit., p. 30.
Blumberg, op. cit., p. 313.
Nader, op. cit., pp. 230–231.
Ibid, p. vii.
Peters and Branch, op. cit., p. 288.
Ibid, p. 290.
Peters and Branch, op. cit., p. xi.
Ibid, p. 298.
Ibid.
Chalk, op. cit., p. 50.
Philip Blumberg “Commentary on ‘Professional Freedom and Responsibility: the Role of the Professional Society’” in the Newsletter on Science, Technology and Human Values, op. cit., p. 45.
Blades, op. cit.
Ibid, pp. 1425–1426.
Ibid, pp. 1428–1429.
Ewing, op. cit., p. 202.
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James, G.G. (1983). Whistleblowing: Its Nature and Justification. In: Robison, W.L., Pritchard, M.S., Ellin, J. (eds) Profits and Professions. Contemporary Issues in Biomedicine, Ethics, and Society. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5625-0_19
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