Would it depend upon the risk/cost involved or just the ethics or both?
Interesting question:
As a Rotarian I have to be above all the petty corruption
As for myself and my own Moral Compass, then I despise corruption in ALL its forms. If it were something petty I would not say a thing,however something major then I would not hesitate. However I would INFORM the person or persons its against before I take any form of action-to allow them to defend themselves. This is called the rule of law and I would NEVER go behind someone's back. They key here is so consult first then whistleblow.
Just the risk mostly but things like cruelty or murder and kiddy fiddling is a duty to me.
for sure but not by everybody
Very difficult one as years ago I whistleblowed on a colleague and it all went wrong. Makes me reluctant but if you don't whistleblow something serious then you can end up in trouble. I would whistleblow on any form of abuse and bullying as a duty of care.
Not a lot......right is right and sneaky, unethical, nasty etc needs to be called out!
The calculus between the cost / benefit analysis and ethics depends on how great the harm is to how many people and/or to institutions and norms of society, plus my trust in the policing on this matter to actually be effective. It's one thing to be right, it's another to waste your rightness if the information you provide isn't going to be acted upon. Maybe bring covert retribution upon yourself in the process, without even eventual justice being served.
The only two times in my career where I've refused to conform to unethical requirements of employers or clients was (1) an employer wanted me to fire a truck driver for having a serious accident, despite that most of the blame was on the employer for wrongly running him illegally for 36 hours straight to make deadlines due to staffing and equipment shortages -- this could have cost people their lives and made me effectively complicit in murder if I had condoned the continuation of such policies in any way. And (2) when a prospective client wanted me to programmatically "cook the books" so he could decieve the IRS, which would have made me an accessory to tax fraud. In that latter situation I probably should have contacted the IRS and let them know that this attempted plot was underway but I was already cynical enough by then to imagine that the IRS would refer the matter around internally until it was forgotten, and that some other software developer would do the deed in my stead. It was enough for me to sleep nights, to not be a part of it myself.
@atheist At least the trucking company in question went bankrupt within 6 months of my departure ... I think the corporate overlords were just picking its bones clean before shutting it down. Also the parent company was gone within two years. So in retrospect I didn't give up much by rendering myself unemployed.
Mostly just the ethics. Timing would have to be considered as to when blowing the whistle would be most effective at fixing the problem though. It'd also depend on whether it is more unethical than ethical or too unethical too justify. Many things aren't black and white, some things are both ethical and unethical at the same time, for example testing on lab rats for cures to disease and cancer and the like. Or observing corpses to better understand surgical anatomy.
@atheist Indeed.
A whistle blower for what... Murder or illegally downloading last week's episode of Murder She Wrote? (is that even still on?)
I think there's difference and it would depend.
@atheist Well, I don't think there's an easy answer to that.
To be Glib: Murder: yes, Murder She wrote: no
First, I can't imagine an instance that would cost me my job, (I work in a very small company) but if one should arise it would definitely depend on the circumstance and what the specific infraction is, why it happened, and if it's fixable.
I'm not really one to jump without having all the facts, especially when people's lives are on the line.
Did my Boss or Coworker kill someone in cold blood? Then yes, I would probably report a murder. Did my boss file something incorrectly and it might end up being illegal, or coming back to bite him in the a$$? I would certainly do my best to inform him and get him to correct the situation, but I probably wouldn't report it.
Did my Co-worker steal a box of office supplies? Then probably not. If he needs those pens badly enough, he can have 'em. Some situations just are not worth the trouble.
I have loyalty to my family, friends and co-workers (including boss) and would have their backs, so I would give them the benefit of the doubt before jumping to any conclusions or turning them in.
Not sure I could get more specific than that without actually being in the situation.
That probably doesn't answer the question.