1 - When Official Channels Fail Whistleblowers

Summary

The official whistleblowing channels are the first stop for most employees who speak out about wrongdoing. The channels often work. But sometimes, when a whistleblowing disclosure highlights serious and system-level wrongdoing, official channels can prove useless for preventing it. Worse, these channels can be actively used against a whistleblower who has been targeted for retaliation. The case of a whistleblower at a large electricity company shows how a manager speaking up on behalf of his staff can end up as a public whistleblower targeted for attack. Uniquely, this chapter also takes the perspective of the senior leaders in the organization who are doing the targeting. Large and complex organizations by their very nature give rise to anxiety, defensiveness and a need to scapegoat someone when things go wrong. When official channels fail, public whistleblowers need to look elsewhere to defend themselves and disclose wrongdoing.