MAIN Business Office Life Whistleblowing

Although "transparency" and "values" became favorite corporate buzzwords in the 1990's, high-powered boardrooms are, as always, tempted to cross over to the dark side.

Enron employee Sharon Watkins became the most spectacular example of corporate whistleblowing when she exposed former Enron chairman and CEO Kenneth Lay's very questionable accounting practices in 2002 -- resulting in thousands of employees losing their retirement and savings plans while corporate officers ran off with the store.

One positive outcome was passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 which made sweeping reforms to corporate governance law, and provided whistleblower protection to employees of public companies.

Since then, the rise of the Internet has given an international platform for calling out corruption (see: Wikileaks and Anonymous), but the individual act of whistleblowing puts personal fortunes and careers on the line. In short, whistelblowing, whether it be political or corporate, often remains a David-and-Goliath battle fraught with danger.

Meanwhile, blowing the whistle on banking fraud continued to make news headlines near the close of 2011 -- as former company employees of Citibank and Bank of America sounded off on widespread illegal practices by the biggest Wall Street banks.

If you discover legal improprieties at your company, what do you do?

Find out more about the delicate balance between proper behavior and self-preservation, with tips and advice from business experts and those who have been there, trying their best to keep the corporate world honest:

More about whistleblowing around the Web:

Career Activist - Whistleblowing The Right Way - Is honesty its own reward? Archived article from the Toronto Star covering the issue with focus on the Enron scandal, its implications on corporations worldwide, with advice to those who are witness to legal improprieties including links to additional help, information and resources.

Fairness.com - Whistleblowing - Good overview of whistleblower headline news with links to reports and feature articles dating back to 2002.

Prosecuting Wall Street, "60 Minutes" Dec. 4 2011

GAP - Corporate Accountability - More archived media stories from various sources around the Web, including an overview and summary of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and mission statement from the Government Accountability Project.

Encouraging Internal Whistleblowing in Organizations - What should be required reading for all CEO's chronicaling the history of U.S. corporate whistleblowing, it's goats and heroes, a guide to creating an ethical culture, recent legislative action, and suggested reading.

Fired for Whistleblowing: Now What? - FindLaw guide to getting help and asserting your legal rights, with related resources.

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White Collar Crime