Retaliation Against Whistleblowers Jumped in 2011 Says New Study
Retaliation Against Whistleblowers Jumped in 2011 Says New Study
Jan 06, 2012
By DANA LIEBELSON
The evidence that whistleblowers don't have adequate protections keeps piling up--in the last two years, there has been a sharp increase in retaliations against private employees who report wrongdoing, according to a study released yesterday by the Ethics Resource Center (ERC).
The ERC's National Business Ethics Survey, which is published every two years, examines organizational ethics from an employee perspective. In 2011, the surveyors collected 4,683 responses from employees in the for-profit sector.
The study found that in 2007, 12 percent of whistleblowers experienced retaliation—the definition of which ranges from being given the “cold shoulder,” to overt disciplinary action. That number climbed to 15 percent in 2009 and rose sharply to 22 percent last year. Of those who reported wrongdoing, the survey found that 31 percent experienced physical harm to their person or property as a result of whistleblowing activities.
These are clearly worrying statistics, especially given some legislators’ blatant attempts to further undermine existing whistleblower protections, like those incorporated in the Dodd-Frank Act (we’re looking at you, Rep. Grimm.) On that note, a mere 8 percent of whistleblowers are presently eligible for the rewards under Dodd-Frank, according to the study.
-
http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2012/01/retaliation-against-whistleblowers-jumped-in-2011-says-new-study.html
