Whistleblowing
Recap
 A person’s ‘sexual orientation’ is
defined in terms of that person’s
sexual desires, feelings, practices and
identification.
 People are ‘homosexual’ or ‘gay’ if
they are attracted to members of the
same sex. People are ‘heterosexual’ or
‘straight’ if they are attracted to the
opposite sex.
2
Recap
 Some people believe that
homosexuality is immoral because it
is ‘against nature’. The problem with
this view is that what is ‘unnatural’ is
not necessarily immoral.
 Some people think that
homosexuality is wrong because of
the harm it causes. But there is no
evidence that homosexuality is
harmful.
3
Recap
 Discrimination involves treating
people unfavorably because of their
race, gender, age, religion or sexual
orientation.
 Since it is widely recognized that
freedom from discrimination is a
universal human right, we all have a
duty not to treat people badly
because of their race, sex, age,
religion or sexual orientation.
4
Recap
 Arguments against same-sex
marriage are largely based on
outdated conceptions of marriage and
family.
 Society should treat all its members
with equal respect. Denying gay
people the right to marriage is a form
of discrimination and human rights
violation.
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In this lecture…
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What is whistleblowing (告密)?
Loyalty (忠誠) and other issues
A culture of silence (沉默文化)
Whistleblower protection
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What is whistleblowing?
 What should you do if you discover
that your supervisor (主管) has done
something illegal?
 Imagine that you handle the
bookkeeping for your company. What
would you do if your supervisor asks
you to alter (更改) some of the
accounts to hide sums of money that
seem to have disappeared?
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What is whistleblowing?
 A whistleblower (舉報者、告密者) is an
individual, usually an employee (僱員),
who reports concerns (關注) about
misconduct (失當行為) taking place
within an organization.
 The misconduct can be any action or
practice that is harmful, unfair, unjust
(不公正), illegal, dishonest, immoral or
in violation of human rights.
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What is whistleblowing?
 A whistleblower discovers misconduct
within an organization and brings it to
the attention of someone who has the
authority (權力) to handle it.
 However, blowing the whistle is not
the same as making a personal
complaint.
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What is whistleblowing?
 For example, you may want to make a
personal complaint if you are being
harassed (騷擾) by your supervisor.
But if you decide to speak out against
your supervisor because you are
aware that there are victims other
than yourself, you are blowing the
whistle.
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What is whistleblowing?
 A distinction (區分) can be made
between ‘internal whistleblowing’ 對
內舉報 (e.g. reporting to senior
management 管理高層 of the
organization) and external
whistleblowing 對外舉報 (e.g. taking
the concerns to the police, regulatory
body 監管機構, or the mass media).
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What is whistleblowing?
 Internal whistleblowing: An employee
chooses to bring the matter to the
attention of someone in a senior
position within the organization.
 External whistleblowing: An employee
decides to disclose (揭露) the
misconduct to law enforcement (執法
部門) or the public.
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What is whistleblowing?
 The justification for whistleblowing is
simple: the whistleblowers notice
something wrong (unethical or illegal),
but they do not have the power or
authority to handle it, so they bring
the matter to the attention of
someone who, they believe, can do
something about it.
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What is whistleblowing?
 Although whistleblowers are
sometimes regarded as heroes
standing up for public interest (公眾利
益), most of them have suffered
consequences such as termination of
employment contract (解雇), demotion
(降職), wage cuts (減薪) or
harassment (騷擾) from other
employees.
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Loyalty and other issues
 What is loyalty (忠誠)? Does
employees’ loyalty to their employers
(僱主) imply that they must keep
quiet about corporate misconduct?
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Loyalty and other issues
 When an employee discovers
evidence of misconduct in an
organization, he or she faces an
ethical dilemma (兩難抉擇).
 Whistleblowing seems to involve a
conflict between ‘protection of public
interest’ (i.e. protecting the interest
of people whose lives, health or
safety, etc. may be harmed by the
misconduct) and ‘employee loyalty’.
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Loyalty and other issues
 An argument against whistleblowing
is that it is an act of disloyalty (不忠).
Loyalty is understood here as the
trust (信任) relationship between the
employer and employees.
 Whistleblowing is unacceptable,
according to this view, because it is a
breach (違反) of loyalty to the
organization.
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Loyalty and other issues
 In many organizations, there is a
strong culture of loyalty. Employees
who question (質疑) the actions or
decisions of management are seen as
‘troublemakers’, and whistleblowers
are viewed as ‘traitors’ (背叛者) whose
actions may harm the interests of the
organization and other employees.
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Loyalty and other issues
 An individual, however, often has to
choose between a variety of values
and commitments (承擔).
 For example, people are likely to have
commitments to their family,
profession (專業), and society in
general, which may conflict (抵觸、衝
突), from time to time, with loyalty to
their employers.
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Loyalty and other issues
 ‘Loyalty’, as such, should be seen as
involving a multitude (多元的) of
commitments:
 loyalty to one’s friends and family
 loyalty to one’s colleagues and clients (客
戶)
 loyalty to one’s profession
 loyalty to one’s employer
 loyalty to one’s local community
 loyalty to society as a whole
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Loyalty and other issues
 When different loyalties come into
conflict, a person would have to rely
on his or her own personal values to
decide what to do.
 If the misconduct in question poses a
serious threat (威脅) to other people’s
health, safety, or lives (e.g. lapses 疏
忽 in workplace safety systems),
blowing the whistle is likely to be the
morally right thing to do.
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Loyalty and other issues
 Under what circumstances is it
morally justified to blow the whistle?
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Loyalty and other issues
 The decision whether or not to blow
the whistle is never an easy one. The
employee is usually faced with three
possible options:
1. to turn a blind eye and stay silent
2. to blow the whistle internally
3. to blow the whistle externally
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Loyalty and other issues
 According to Richard T. De George, a
moral philosopher, whistleblowing is
morally justified under the following
conditions:
1. serious harm to clients, employees or
other members of the public is involved;
2. the whistleblower has clear evidence (證
據) of wrongdoing;
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Loyalty and other issues
3. the whistleblower has already reported
the problem to superiors (上級) within
the organization;
4. when the whistleblower’s immediate
supervisor (頂頭上司) does not act, the
whistleblower should exhaust (用盡)
the internal reporting procedures (內部
舉報程序);
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Loyalty and other issues
5. If the whistleblower wants to reveal the
wrongdoing to the public, he or she
must have valid (合理的) reasons to
believe that doing so will result in the
changes necessary to remedy (糾正) the
situation.
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Loyalty and other issues
 Why should a whistleblower exhaust
all internal channels before going
public? Why is internal whistleblowing
better than external whistleblowing?
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Loyalty and other issues
 A whistleblower might want to skip
(跳過) the usual steps of internal
reporting either because his or her
superior is not willing to discuss the
issue, or because the latter does not
seem to be trustworthy (可信) or
capable (有能力) of handling the
problem.
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Loyalty and other issues
 However, external whistleblowing,
should only be seen as the last resort
(最後手段) because doing so can cause
great damage the organization’s
reputation (聲譽).
 Therefore, before ‘going public’, the
whistleblower should explore (探索)
every existing channel of internal
communication to raise concern about
the problem.
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Loyalty and other issues
 Do employees have a moral duty to
blow the whistle on corporate
misconduct?
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Loyalty and other issues
 Although blowing the whistle may
seem morally justified under some
circumstances, it does not necessarily
imply that employees have a moral
duty to do so.
 For example, according to utilitarian
reasoning, whether blowing the
whistle is the right decision depends
on its consequences.
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Loyalty and other issues
 Blowing the whistle can have bad
consequences for an organization, for
example, by creating an ‘atmosphere
of mistrust’ (互不信任的氣氛).
 From the standpoint of utilitarianism,
an action is not morally justified
unless it brings more good than harm,
i.e. unless the good consequences
outweigh the bad consequences.
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Loyalty and other issues
 In other words, blowing the whistle is
the morally right thing to do only if
the whistleblower believes that doing
so can help to solve the problem or
help the organization in the long run.
 If it fails to achieve anything, then
blowing the whistle may not be the
right decision.
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A culture of silence
 Why are so many people unwilling to
blow the whistle? What are the
implications for business and society if
employees are discouraged from
reporting corporate misconduct?
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A culture of silence
 Whistleblowing is rare (罕見) in most
organizations. Most people are
reluctant (不願意) to sound the alarm
(敲響警號) either because of fear of
retaliation (報復), or fear of damaging
their relationships with other people
in the workplace.
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A culture of silence
 Whistleblowing is often seen as an act
of disloyalty. Employees may turn a
blind eye to misconduct simply
because they do not want to be
labeled as ‘troublemakers’.
 Unless the whistleblower believes
there is a good chance that something
will be done to deal with the problem,
blowing the whistle does not seem
like a good idea.
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A culture of silence
 Worse still, a whistleblower often has
to stand alone against a powerful
person or group within the
organization. For example, if one’s
supervisors were directly or indirectly
involved in the misconduct, reporting
the problem to them would possibly
put the whistleblower at great
personal risk.
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A culture of silence
 Fear of retaliation for reporting
misconduct in the workplace is on the
rise, according to a business survey
conducted in the United States.
 Even if the whistleblower was willing
to take the risk, he or she might have
difficulty gathering evidence to
support the accusation (指控).
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A culture of silence
 Many corporations also require
employees to sign nondisclosure
agreements (禁止披露協議書), which
forbid (禁止) them from disclosing
company information to government
investigators (調查員).
 It is always easier to look the other
way (裝作視而不見), especially when
other colleagues are also aware of the
misconduct but stay silent.
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A culture of silence
 Given the bad consequences that may
come with whistleblowing, it is easy
to see why so many people choose to
keep their mouths shut.
 However, if people do not speak out
in the face of a moral wrong, they are
indirectly encouraging and promoting
immoral behavior.
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A culture of silence
 The main beneficiaries (得益者) of a
‘culture of silence’ are those corrupt
(腐敗的) individuals within the
organization. Knowing that the alarm
will not be sounded and their
wrongdoing will go undetected (不被
發現) and unpunished, these corrupt
individuals will continue their illegal,
immoral or dishonest practices.
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Whistleblower protection
 Why should organizations encourage
internal whistleblowing and protect
whistleblowers? How can senior
management foster (助長) an ethical
culture in the workplace?
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Whistleblower protection
 Unethical behavior in the workplace
can have serious negative
consequences for an organization:
1. It might suffer financial loss (財務損失) if
some employees are acting dishonestly.
2. It might be punished for the illegal
activities of its employees.
3. Its reputation can be damaged by the
unethical behavior of its employees.
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Whistleblower protection
 Whistleblowers can provide an
invaluable (寶貴的) service to their
organizations.
 Why? Because employees are usually
the best source of information about
inappropriate 不當的 (i.e. dishonest,
immoral or illegal) conduct within the
organization.
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Whistleblower protection
 Employees are far more likely to
report misconduct in organizations
with strong ethical cultures, i.e. if
they believe that senior management
is concerned about unethical conduct
in the workplace and willing to take
the matter seriously.
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Whistleblower protection
 To foster (促進、助長) a culture of
ethical conduct, an organization
should have in place:
1. a code of ethics for employees (員工守則)
2. a confidential (保密的) internal reporting
policy
3. procedures (程序) to protect
whistleblowers
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Whistleblower protection
 A code of ethics should be issued. This
not only provides guidelines for
appropriate conduct in the workplace
but also raises employees’ awareness
(意識) of the organization’s values and
commitments.
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Whistleblower protection
 In addition to issuing a code of ethics
for employees, the organization
should also provide a formal channel
for reporting ethical concerns
internally.
 A fair system for handling employee
concerns should also be established to
ensure that whistleblowers do not
feel under threat (受威脅).
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Whistleblower protection
 Employees may want to raise their
concern anonymously (匿名地) so that
their true identities will not be
revealed.
 To this end, a hotline – handled by real
people, not voice mail – can be set up
to ensure that reporting can be done in
private. Employees should be allowed
to speak to someone other than their
immediate supervisor who may be
involved in the misconduct.
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Whistleblower protection
 Employees who use this mechanism
(機制) should be protected from
retaliation. Whistleblower protection
usually involves protection of the
confidentiality (保密) and anonymity
(匿名) of the whistleblower, and
safeguards (保障) against harassment
(滋擾) or victimization (迫害).
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Whistleblower protection
 For best results, there should be a
formal investigation (調查) procedure,
with feedback (回饋) to the employee
on the outcome of the investigation.
 To sum up: to foster an ethical culture
within an organization, employees
should be encouraged to speak out for
the greater good of the organization
and the interest of the general public
it serves.
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