What Is A Whistleblower?

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There was a time that looking the other way or turning the other cheek or not getting involved was the norm, both in family life and in professional life. However in recent years, possibly as a result of a more aggressive media presence in the developed world, individuals are more inclined the blow the whistle to the relevant authorities or the media regarding incidences that they consider either dishonest or immoral. They have realized that by continuing to ignore a specific situation, their passiveness or apathy may directly cause harm to others usually financially and even sometimes physically.

The majority of the prominent whistleblowing cases have been attached to the business or political sectors, however if there were statistics available, they would undoubtedly show that this phenomenon first began to gain its impetus where concerned families, neighbors or friends began to notice something amiss in relationships within a family. Signs of physical abuse on a family, usually among women or children were once set aside as no one else's business. Today, and rightly so, these kinds of situations would result in an anonymous phone call to the local authorities who would investigate the situation and, if deemed necessary, they would intervene to protect the parties at risk.

In the private sector the issue of whistleblowing is not very clear cut. The reason being is that the subject is never as clear cut and in many cases the whistleblower has had to suffer considerable abuse and pressure to do what they believe is right. A typical example is an employee of a private company who observes one of his colleagues in a position of power, abusing their position for personal gain. The well-meaning employee has basically two choices; look the other way or find someone in a position of responsibility within the company to discuss the matter confidentially. The whistleblower may not necessarily receive the red carpet treatment and again the reasons are sometimes sensitive to an extreme. They may be reporting a situation to someone who is already aware of it, is a part of it or passively condones it. The person of authority who the whistleblower approaches may be offended that the company he or she works for or even owns, has a dishonest and/or immoral employee. They may be inclined to "sweep the matter under the carpet" and instead of trying to solve the problem by removing the corrupt employee, the company dismisses the whistleblower, as nobody really likes the person who brings the bad news. In this case the whistleblower does enjoy a level of protection, and can sue the employers for unfair dismissal. However this can be a long drawn out affair.

It is in the world of corporate business and politics that whistleblowing has become more recognized, and some of the more controversial cases have sprung to light. One of the most prominent cases in history and the most famous whistleblower till now was William Felt also known as Deep Throat from the early nineteen seventies who was directly responsible in causing President Richard Nixon's resignation as a result of the Watergate scandal.

There have been many other examples of whistleblowing and with the introduction of the False Claims act of 1986 has caused many people to come forward to report financial or sexual improprieties carried out by people of considerable power. The whistleblowers know that under this Act they are entitled to the protection of the US Government, and if their claims are proved to be correct, their public spirited acts will help to stem the abuse of privilege.