Ten Whistleblowers and How They Fared

Abstract

In 1959, Frank Serpico joined the New York City police force. For Serpico, the police had always represented the meshing of authority and service. His early days on the force propelled him into the conflict between the norms governing police behavior set by department regulations and the actual code generated by the police. Formal regulations precluded the taking of any items from neighorhood stores and sanctioned the acceptance of bribes. In the station house and out on patrol a different set of rules applied. Shopping for items of food at local stores was clearly acceptable and taking money to pardon a lawbreaker became standard fare. Serpico was caught in a dilemma that faces many rookie police. Which set of norms should he uphold?' Like many other whistleblowers in industry, government, and the academic world, initially Serpico was caught between his desire to follow his moral beliefs, and the organizational pressures to conform. How do workers handle such a conflict? And what happens to their personal lives and their careers once they have blown the whistle? In an effort to understand the dynamics of the process, I have interviewed or exchanged letters with nine prominent whistleblowers and have corresponded with the wife of a tenth, who is deceased.' Their cases portray three distinct paths through which individuals move toward public disclosure: Unbending resisters protest within the organization about unethical or illegal behavior that they have observed. They maintain a strict commitment to their principles, despite efforts to cajole or coerce them. Ultimately, as a consequence of neglect and retaliation within the organization, they take a public stand. Implicated protestors speak out within their organizations, but acquiesce when they are ordered to conform. They find themselves drawn into illegal or unethical behavior, which they expose when they fear legal liability. Reluctant collaborators become deeply involved in acts they privately condemn. They seek public remedy and personal expiation only when they leave the organization. Once an employee has blown the whistle, the responses of his or her superiors can take two broad forms. There are degradation to punish and alienate resisters and protesters; and ceremonies of status elevation, which reinforce the whistleblower's feeling that what he or she is doing is right. Whether and when someone will blow the