Ethical Whistle blowing

A whistleblower is a person who exposes secretive information or activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, unethical, or not correct.This can be classified into many categories violation of company policy/rules, law, regulation, or threat to public interest/national security, as well as fraud, and corruption.

Whistle blowers can divided into 3 categories:

Internal : — Most whistleblowers are internal whistleblowers, who report misconduct on a fellow.employee or superior within their company through anonymous reporting mechanisms often called hotlines.

External : — External whistleblowers, however, report misconduct to outside persons or entities.

Third party : — Sometimes it is beneficial for an organization to use an external agency to create a secure and anonymous reporting channel for its employees, often referred to as a whistleblowing hotline.

Sector wise whistleblowing

Private sector : -

private sector whistleblowing is when an employee reports to someone in a higher position such as a manager, or a third party that is isolated from the individual chapter, such as their lawyer or the police. In the private sector, corporate groups can easily hide wrongdoings by individual branches.

Public sector : -

Recognizing the public value of whistleblowing has been increasing over the last 50 years. In the United States, both state and Federal statutes have been put in place to protect whistleblowers from retaliation. The United States Supreme Court ruled that public sector whistleblowers are protected under First Amendment rights from any job retaliation when they raise flags over alleged corruption.

Ethics

The ethical implications of whistleblowing can be negative as well as positive. Whistle-blowing brings two moral values, fairness and loyalty into conflict. Doing what is fair or just (e.g., promoting an employee based on talent alone) often conflicts with showing loyalty (e.g., promoting a longstanding but unskilled employee). Taken to its extreme from a loyalty perspective, whistle-blowing may involve agonizing conflicts when, for example, it involves violating the trust of co-workers who have engaged in wrongdoing or jeopardizing one’s “team player” status by going against the prevailing winds in an organization that fosters unethical behavior.

There are four elements of the whistleblowing process:

1. The whistleblower

2. The whistleblowing act or complaint

3. The party to whom the complaint is made

4. The organization against which the complaint is lodged.

Steps for whistleblowing

Step 1 — Get Evidence :- It’s crucial that you get documentary evidence of the fraud. Such evidence can include emails, internal studies, billing records, or test results.

Step 2 — Presenting the Evidence :- Under the False Claims Act, the whistleblower must file a complaint in court as well as submit it to the government, along with a Disclosure Statement that details the alleged misconduct.

Step 3 — Government Investigation :- During this time, all aspects of the matter, including the whistleblower’s identity and the investigation itself, will remain confidential. Any formal complaints filed in court are kept under seal so even the defendants don’t know what’s going on.

Step 4 — The Decision :- If the government decides to bring a case, the whistleblower may be asked to testify at trial or a grand jury proceeding. It’s at this point your identity will be disclosed.