Whistle Plowing Is Wrong Essay

Whistle blowing is informing on illegal and unethical practices in the workplace. It is becoming increasingly common as employees speak out about their ethical concerns at work. It can have disastrous consequences for the individual, as well as threatening the survival of the organization that is being complained about. In this issue, philosopher Sissela Bok asserts that although blowing the whistle is often justified, it does involve dissent, accusations, and a breach of loyalty to the employer. But on the other hand, Robert A. Larmer, an associate professor of philosophy, argues that attempting to stop illegal or unethical company activities may be the highest type of company loyalty an employee can display.

Under what circumstances, if any, is whistle blowing morally justified? Some people have argued that whistle blowing is never justified because employees have absolute obligations of confidentiality and loyalty to the organization for which they work. People who argue this way see no difference between employees who reveal trade secrets by selling information to competitors, and whistle blowers who disclose activities harmful to others. This position is similar to another held by some business people that the
The result cost him his job, plunged him into debt, and left emotional scars on his family. Kermit Vandivier lost his job after he blew the whistle on B. F. Goodrich Aircraft Brakes scandal. Since then, he began a new career as a journalist. James Pope claimed that the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) found in 1975 an effective device known as the airborne collision avoidance system that would prevent mid-air collisions; but the FAA chose instead to pursue an inferior device it had had in hand in developing. U.S. cost analyst Ernest Fitzgerald was discharged from the Airforce after finding huge cost overruns on Lockheed cargo planes that were being developed for the