Today as a country we have move forward together in the industrial, manufacturing, and industry. Job opportunities for citizens are at an alarming rate, and we are moving forward as a country. Some of the most successful corporations that we see everywhere have a strict employee policy. This allows the corporation to have a sense of control of their employees. Employees have to follow a server protocol in order to keep their job. They have access to confidential information, and even if the ethical decision is right, due to that protocol you cannot say anything. This theory is referred to as Whistle blowing. Many people have their different opinions about whistle blowing, but most will refer it to as back stabber or trader.
Whistleblowing occurs when an employee exposes a wrongdoing about their company. It has many negative effects, but sometimes it is the moral thing to do. I personally feel that whistle blowing is the right thing to do. I believe that if something is going to endanger the general public, then there is only one option. Whistle blowing is becoming more and more common these days, but in most cases, it has devastating effects. Several of these people had to find new jobs, relocate, or settle for less money in their new job. It can be very scandalous, often involving law- suits, but in some cases the whistle blower is looked at as hero, and sometimes earns money.
The main issue is if it is moral. Many people argue that you have obligations of loyalty to your colleagues and company. Some company’s may feel that it is family oriented, and they stick together. Corporations today are run with the expectations that they will function in ways that are compatible with the public interest. But in some cases, their main concern is maximizing their profits and earning money. This plays a huge role because some corporations forget where they started and let the money motivate them negatively. This is when it can become disreputable.
Many companies deal with whistle blowing. Bank of America is one of those companies. Bank of America is an American multinational banking and financial services corporation. Bank of American is the second largest banking company in America. The headquarters are based in North Carolina and then the other buildings are base throughout the United States. The most important thing to Bank of America is their people. They set up benefit programs that are there to meet the diverse needs of the employees. These benefits help create a plan for the employees lives and their futures. The company prioritizes their employees, which causes the employees to work well to get the job done. The employees at Bank of America are given insurance, vacation time, sick days and many other benefits. The employees strive to create a welcoming environment at the bank. The world’s largest wealth management corporation is Bank of America. Though this company is a large leader in banks and management, they face a lot of issues and lawsuits. The issues that they face is whistleblowing.
When you talk about whistle blowing in a company you talk about going against the ethical standards in which the company has set for its employees. An example of Bank of America and whistleblowing is around 2008. There was a man who used to work for Countrywide until it was acquired by Bank of America. This man became a whistle blower against Bank of America. He started to expose the company’s secrets. The way in which the company dealt with that was with a lawsuit and a payout. Bank of America had to pay over 1 billion dollar as a penalty due to the information that the whistleblower exposed. The whistleblower was supposed to receive part of the money but since Bank of America was trying to overturn the ruling and say that what was said was not true, the money in which the whistleblower was supposed to receive is being withheld. The companies that have to deal with whistleblowers and the information that they expose try to just buy the words of the whistleblower. They try to fight the issues in court and just buy the silence. If the court trials do not end well then the companies just end up having to pay the price. The price for their actions often varies depending on the situation. Bank of America has dealt with multiple different whistleblowing situations. They have had to pay multiple lawsuits, and have had to pay different people to keep quite.
When dealing with whistleblowers many companies chose to fight back the information that was spread. In 2013 the company Bank of America fought back when the former employees accused them of encouraging homeowners into foreclosure instead of being a part of the government’s mortgage-relief program. This issue was taken to court and discussed to a lengthy amount. The company was fighting the whistleblowers to show that what they were exposed for did not really happen. They ended up settling an agreement to pay around $12 billion dollars as a settlement and to clean up their act. The way in which this court cases ended up is how most of the cases against whistleblowers end up. When companies fight against whistleblowers it is not so much if they will get off scotch free but how much money they are going to have to pay for as settlement. The problem with the whistleblowers is they expose the situation of the companies. Even though the companies pay off the settlement it does not take away the issues that were at hand. Once the secrets come out at the trials the people that go the bank or even work at the bank may start to leave. The settlement is just one of the ways that a company can deal with the whistleblowers and all that they have exposed about the company. It is through court trials or through lawyers that the companies solve the problems that they have with whistleblowers.
Through this study I have discovered new things about whistleblowing. I have learned how serious this can be, and also how the outcome isn’t always good for both sides. In this case bank of America had to learn the hard way about legal aspects ad doing the right thing. It shows that sometimes owners start owing up to a little bit of greed and it turns out as a negative effect.
At the end of this study I have learned that you have to be cautious of what type of job you want. Some jobs come with holding confidential information no matter If it is right or wrong. In this case bank of America had to learn the hard way and pay the consequence of their wrong doing actions. I am pleased to see the company continue to move forward and find ways to put this situation in the past. This study I learned the severity of whistleblowing.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/12/bank-of-america-foreclosure-whistleblower_n_3588374.html
Ashland University COM 305: Organizational Communication 