Week 3 Discussion

Whistle-Blowers

The term whistle blower was originated by consumer advocate Ralph
Nader to characterize employees who disclosed illegal, immoral, or
illegitimate practices by their employers. Since the terror attacks on
September 11, 2001, one of the more famous government whistle blowers
has been Colleen Rowley, the FBI agent whose letter to Director Robert
Mueller about the FBI’s lack of response to possible terrorist threats
in the U.S. led to a storm of criticism of the bureau’s management.
Rowley asked for federal whistle-blower protection in her memo because
she feared that she would be terminated. This Discussion focuses on
whistle blower statutes and whether or not they provide adequate
protection from reprisal to employees who make such disclosures.

For this Discussion, review this week’s Resources. Review Chapter 3 of Human Resources Management for Public and Nonprofit Organizations. Focus
on legal environment and the legal and ethical codes related to
whistle blowing. Review the articles by Blonder, Katel, and Ripley and
Sieger. Become familiar with the examples of whistleblowing.

With these thoughts in mind:

Post by Day 4 a description of one of the examples
of whistleblowing found in the articles by Katel or Ripley and Sieger.
Discuss how you, as a human resource manager, might evaluate the
situation and the steps you would take to protect the individual.
Briefly describe the importance of in the government or non-profit
organization. Finally, explain how the actions of the whistle blower,
while perhaps harming an organization, helped to serve the public good.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the resources.

Week 3 Learning Resources

This page contains the Learning Resources for this week. Be sure to
scroll down the page to see all of this week’s assigned Learning
Resources.

Required Resources

Readings

• Pynes, J. E. (2013). Human resources management for public and nonprofit organizations: A strategic approach (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
  • Chapter 3, “Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Laws and Other Employee Protections” (pp. 69–106)
• Blonder, I. (2010). Public interests and private passions: A peculiar case of police whistleblowing. Criminal Justice Ethics, 29(3), 258–277.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
• Haigh, R., & Bowal, P. (2012). Whistleblowing and freedom conscience: Towards a new legal analysis. Dalhousie Law Journal, 35(1), 89–125.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
• Katel, P. (2006). Protecting whistleblowers. CQ Researcher, 16(12), 265–288.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
• Ripley, A., & Sieger, M. (2002). The special agent. Time, 34–40.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
• Rush, C. L. (2012). Amending the Americans with Disabilities Act:
  Shifting equal employment opportunity obligations in public human
  resource management. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 32(1), 75–86.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Please proceed to the Discussion.