Almost every streaming service today has a limited series or documentary that details recent fraud cases that have captivated the world, from Anna Delvey to the Tinder Swindler.
One of pop culture's biggest obsessions, though, has been the Theranos case: a story about a woman, Elizabeth Holmes, who took Silicon Valley by storm with her company, Theranos, that claimed to have developed a revolutionary blood testing method that could detect diseases with just a pinprick of blood.
One aspect of the story that makes Theranos stand out above the rest is the role that whistleblower Tyler Shultz, a young research engineer in the company, played in exposing the lies and deception by Holmes and Theranos president and COO Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani.
In this Q&A, DFEI Director Melanie Kay shares insight into why these cases—especially those involving whistleblowers—are so fascinating and what future lawyers and the general public can learn from them.
Why has society has become fascinated with whistleblower cases like Theranos?
I think they're fascinating because it takes a lot of moral courage and integrity to be a whistleblower, and it naturally makes each of us question how we'd respond to these types of situations. While most of us would say we'd want to do the right thing, people actually living through these situations tend to keep quiet. Most whistleblowers face severe, long-term personal and professional consequences that can feel really daunting. So, what makes these...
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