The Rules for Whistleblowers: A Handbook for Doing What's Right
Stephen M. Kohn
440 pages, Lyons Press, 2023
Whistleblowing has proven to be a most effective anti-corruption tool, whose promise to deter frauds is almost unlimited. Whether it’s busting a billionaire banker illegally stashing money overseas, or a ship captain that ordered the dumping of oil overboard, blowing the whistle is how these crimes are detected and successfully prosecuted.
In writing Rules for Whistleblowers: A Handbook for Doing What’s Right, I looked to highlight whistleblower laws and programs that are getting it right. Each “Rule,” accompanied by our online Law Library, targets a different crime or industry and explains how whistleblowers are changing the rules of the game. No longer the “skunks at the picnic,” they are now essential players in stopping fraud, bribery, and white-collar crimes. Generous reward or bounty provisions, combined with state-of-the-art anti-retaliation laws, enable whistleblowers to hold the powerful accountable and obtain multi-million-dollar rewards for doing the right thing.
In the conclusion to Rules for Whistleblowers, titled “Can Whistleblowers Drive a Spike through the Heart of Corruption?” I reflect on the immense success of whistleblowing, and how it affirms the Nobel prize-winning economist David Becker’s theory on stopping corporate crime. I cite sociologist Edwin Sutherland, who warned that white-collar crime can undermine the social...
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