Is whistleblowing a duty? Yes

摘要

Is whistleblowing a duty? Yes it is, according to Emanuela Ceva and Michele Bocchiola. The argument hinges on the basic fact that organisations are fundamentally and finally accountable to the stakeholders that enable to them to operate in the first place. These stakeholders -ranging from employees to customers, citizens to shareholders, place trust in the people who run the organization. This mandates organizational members to fulfil this trust, and to act in an accountable way. Whistleblowing is justifiable as a duty, therefore, because it represents a specific instance of a general duty of public accountability, held by all members of an organization. Sometimes employees and other organizational actors witness wrongdoing as they go about their work. Certain 'arbitrary deviation(s)' from the rules that govern acceptable practices and behaviours contradict the public trust that has been placed in the organization (p. 29). When this happens, a duty of accountability arises for the members of the organization who have witnessed or become aware of the wrongdoing. This duty arises because of their privileged access to information, concerning the abuse of the power that has been entrusted. The person holding this information ought, therefore, to blow the whistle. She ought to do so to restore the balance of trust and responsibility that comes with being part of an organization operating in society. Moreover, she is obliged to restore the implicit logic of public accountability that has been threatened by the wrongdoing.