Whistle Blowing Essay

753 Words4 Pages
Is There a Right to Blow the Whistle? Whistle-blowing is the unforced release of confidential information, as a moral protest, by a member or an ex-member of an organization to an suitable audience outside the usual channels of communication regarding illegal and/or immoral behavior in the organization that is acting against public interest. There are some laws in existence that protects whistle-blowers. The first of these is the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, which allows federal employees to report waste and corruption in the government without fear of retaliation. In order to receive and take action on complaints of retaliation, the act set up the Merit System Protection Board. The Whistle-Blower Protection Act of 1989 reinforces this protection with the formation of the Office of Special Counsel for going through whistle-blower reports. In both private and public sectors, federal legislation protects whistle-blowers, and some states even give rewards for whistle-blowing. Regarding whistle-blower protection, there are arguments in favor of it as well as arguments against it. The main argument in its favor is that the society can benefit from the revealing of illegal activities, waste, and mismanagement; this can only occur if whistle-blowers can come forward without having to worry about any retaliatory actions. Another argument is that those who work for the government have a First Amendment right to freedom of speech and so should be protected from retaliation. Also, those who work in the private sector have a moral right that requires legal protection. The final argument is that employees have a right to act as their conscience dictates. An argument against whistle-blower protection is that the law that recognizes whistle-blowing can be abused. Unhappy employees may use whistle-blowing to a variety of things for their own gain. It also overrides the

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