- Published: August 26, 2022
- Updated: August 26, 2022
- University / College: University of York
- Level: School
- Language: English
- Downloads: 9
Whistleblower A whistleblower is an individual who bravely reveals any wrongdoing in an organization to the general public or those in the relevant authority for action to be taken against them. Whistleblowers disclose information about any form of misconduct or corruption to the public for transparency purposes. An individual can be classified as a whistle blower if he/she possesses the following characteristics. Whistleblowers are often educated and hold a professional position in an organization. For one to discern wrongdoing in an organization he/she must have the relevant educational qualification and professional skills that will enable him/her differentiate wrong doing from what is expected of everyone (Alford, 2001).
Further, whistleblowers are often guided by their beliefs and attitude thus they cannot be compromised by anything or anyone to abduct their noble mission of revealing wrongdoing or misconduct in organization to the general public or authorities (Westman & Modesitt, 2004). A whistle blower should be uninterested in altering his/her behaviour this is due to the fact that on the pursuit of exposing influential people he/she may be enticed with goodies to desist from his/her mission. Thus, a whistleblower should be firm to his/her behaviour of raising a red flag whenever something wrong is done within the organization. Whistleblowers are utilitarian in nature in that their actions are selfless and seek to provide good for the greatest number of people. Their actions are not for individual benefit but rather are meant to reap benefits for the general public (Alford, 2001).
Clifford Jagodozinsk, an ex-employee of Morgan Stanley Barney LLC, decided to conduct a thorough investigation into the business conduct of one of the highly rated broker for the company. That broker had been recently hired having worked for the Bank of America for close to thirty years. On completion of the investigation, Jagodozinsk found that that broker was involved in churning preferred securities. He had made hundred thousands of dollars as a result of those illegal activities despite his actions being of minimal or loss to his clients. On reporting internally the findings of his investigation Jagodozinsk was pressured to drop the case, but he decided to report the matter externally (Alford, 2001). In a span of three weeks Jagodozinsk reported several breaches of law within the organization including; improper trading, drug abuse and failure to register home offices as workstations. This lead to him being relieved his duties at the organization after making these revelations. The organization risk being punished under the public corporation act for engaging in improper trading and at the same time for inappropriately firing a whistleblower (Westman & Modesitt, 2004).
The whistleblower was in order to reel the wrongdoings in the organization as they jeopardized the overall objectives of which the organization was mandated at the same time putting into risk the investments of its clients. That notwithstanding the organization was failing to fulfil it legal obligation of registering officers this was against the law and ought to have been exposed. The whistleblower was doing this in good faith to preserve the client’s investment and to ensure the good reputation of the organization as a law-abiding entity is not tainted by illegal dealings (Alford, 2001).
Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, it is illegal for any individual to be penalized or relieved his/her duties as a result of providing truthful information about a certain organization’s wrongful dealings. The person responsible with that will be punished and risk up to ten years jail term. This clause protects Jagodozinsk against any form of retrenchment and the officer in charge of terminating his employment will be punished by law for his illegal act. Thus, the employment of Jagodozinsk as a whistleblower is safeguarded since whatever he did was just for the good of the general public (Westman & Modesitt, 2004).
Alford, C. F. (2001). Whistleblowers : Broken lives and organizational power. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Westman, D. P., & Modesitt, N. M. (2004). Whistleblowing: The law of retaliatory discharge. Washington, DC: Bureau of National Affairs.