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whistleblowingColumbia Encyclopedia entry: whistle-blowing
Whistle-blowing, exposure of fraud and abuse by an employee. The federal law that legitimated the concept of the whistle-blower, the False Claims Act (1863, revised 1986), was created to combat fraud by suppliers to the federal government during the Civil War. Under the act, whistle-blowers can receive a percentage of the money recovered or damages won by the government in fraud cases they expose. The act also protects whistle-blowers from wrongful dismissal, allowing for reinstatement with seniority, double back pay, interest on back pay, compensation for discriminatory treatment, and reasonable legal fees. Federal legislation in 1978 barred reprisals against those who exposed government corruption. Harassment and dismissal of and the revelation of widespread waste and fraud in defense contracting led Congress to strengthen the position of whistle-blowers in 1989. Many states also have employment laws that deal with discriminatory treatment of whistle-blowers.
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Wikipedia search results for: Whistleblower
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A whistleblower (redirected from whistleblowing) is a person who raises a concern about wrongdoing occurring in an organization or body of people, usually this person would be from that same organization. This misconduct may be classified in many ways; for example, a violation of a law, rule, regulation and/or a direct threat to public interest, such as fraud, health/safety violations, and corruption. Whistleblowers may make their allegations internally or externally.
Whistleblowers frequently face reprisal - sometimes at the hands of the organization or group which they have accused, sometimes from related organizations, and sometimes under law.
The term whistleblower derives from...more »
Columbia Encyclopedia search results: whistleblowing
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- corrupt practices
Corrupt practices, in politics, fraud connected with elections. The term also refers to various offenses by public officials, including bribery, the sale of offices, granting of public contrac...
