Being a Whistleblower – Advantages and Disadvantages Whistleblowers are strong and brave people, for example employees, who recognize a wrong behavior of someone or their organization and want to do something against it in order to see that this behavior, or the wrong actions taken, are corrected – for them it is a matter of ethical responsibility, and they need to do it to feel comfortable in their skin. An advantage of this behavior is that the Whistleblowers feel a deep satisfaction making a substantial contribution toward the welfare of society. Of course, personal gratification isn’t the only benefit of becoming a whistleblower. For example, in qui tam cases under the federal False Claims Act, Congress decided to give whistleblowers (or “relators”) a share of the recoveries that result from their lawsuits to encourage people to step forward and take the risks involved in reporting fraud (Qui Tam Team). An overall advantage of whistleblowing is that the welfare of customers and employees can be protected. Blowing the whistle can take a long time and therefore can be very stressful. Families, friends and especially colleagues might not understand the decision and lose patience and trust very quickly. Without someone supporting you, the time until the case has finally settled, could be a hard one.
Whistle-blowers have federal protection against recrimination. Regardless, it’s very likely that you will lose your standing in your chosen profession by the insidious practice of blackballing (T.A. White, 2010). Financial loss could occur, if the Whistleblower’s reputation is damaged by the case.
The ethical behavior of Douglas Durand and Federal Government Douglas Durand had to go through an ethical dilemma as an executive employee. Most ethical dilemmas involve a conflict between the needs of the individual versus the needs of the organization (R.L. Daft &