Whistleblowing

Abstract

Although efforts to encourage whistleblowers in the United States to come forward date back to 1778, the country's treatment of whistleblowers has been a conflicted one. Most recently, this reluctance to brand whistleblowers as heroes may be seen in the wide range of responses to Edward Snowden's revelations about the extent of our own government's surveillance operations. While some commentators have pilloried Snowden and branded him a traitor, privacy advocates and foreign governments have praised his courage. Perhaps reflecting these conflicting sentiments, current protections in the U.S. are a patchwork collection of narrowly tailored, industry-specific legislative acts. In some cases, legislatures have implemented protections on the heels of public disclosures of industry fraud. To an increasingly extent however, lawmakers have anticipated the need for whistleblower protections with the enactment of new federal spending initiatives. This paper outlines the expansion of whistleblower protections and highlights the proliferation of protections that award whistleblowers a substantial monetary reward.