Deck 2: The Duty of Loyalty: Whistleblowing

Question 1

Explain what happened in the 1968 Supreme Court's re-interpretation of the First Amendment to the U.S.Constitution regarding public employees' limited speech protections.

Answer 1

In 1968,the case of Pickering v.Board of Education addressed a public school teacher's criticism of the local school board.The Court weighed "the interests of the teacher,as a citizen,in commenting upon matters of public concern" against the State (a.k.a.the school board).The Pickering case gave public employees limited speech protection.

Question 2

In the essay,Work Matters,by law professor Marion Crain,all of the following are the result of working except:

A)People become self-sufficient.
B)People become more engaged in the democratic process.
C)People become more engaged in society and social issues.
D)People stay out of jail.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

As discussed in the text,False Claims Act or qui tam suits have been successful in the health care industry.The text mentions several things that all these successful claims have in common.Discuss those things.

Answer 3

(1)All qui tam plaintiffs tried to fix the problems internally before they went to the outside; (2)all were told that the behavior they were concerned about was either legal or were told to drop the complaint; (3)very few believed that they would have to "blow the whistle" in the beginning; (4)none blew the whistle out of any concern for money,but instead were concerned with public health and safety;and (5)most of them found the process incredibly grueling.

Question 4

What does Dworkin suggest in her essay are four activities any organization should implement for effective compliance behavior towards whistleblowing?

Question 5

Select the best definition of whistleblower:

A)the sole goal of modern ethics training
B)originated from the Latin "qui tam pro domino rege quam pro sic ipso in hoc parte sequitur" meaning "who as well for the king as for himself sues in this matter."
C)a narrow exception under the general rule of at-will employment
D)people who report unethical or illegal activities under the control of their employers

Question 6

To determine whether a public employee receives First Amendment protection from speech (and therefore cannot be fired for it),the Supreme Court has stated that all of the following are important except:

A)The employer must have a justification for treating the employee differently than it would treat a member of the general public.
B)The speech cannot be about political topics.
C)The speech must be about something of great public concern.
D)The speech cannot be made as part of the employment (such as an internal memorandum).

Question 7

Given the information in the text,why is public policy towards whistleblowing an inconsistent issue?

Question 8

Exceptions to the rule of employment-at-will include which of the following?
I)organization of unions
II)passage of Sarbanes Oxley Act
III)raising of public policy issues
IV)promise of implied-contract or covenant-of-good-faith

A)I only
B)II only
C)I and II
D)I,II,III,IV

Question 9

The Sarbanes Oxley Act was passed in response to:
I)concerns that investors received full and complete information about potential corporate fraud
II)a lack of investor confidence
III)corporate scandals beginning with Enron
IV)discrimination against an employee when providing information she reasonably believes constitutes a violation of federal security laws

A)I only
B)II only
C)I and II
D)I,II,III,IV

Question 10

The Constitution does not always protect free-speech rights for what public employees say on the job.Which of the following is true?

A)When a citizen enters government service,the citizen need not accept certain limitations on his or her freedom.
B)Public employees may speak out on matters of public concern and have First Amendment protection but not when they speak out in the course of their official duties.
C)As public employees speak out and receive First Amendment protection,there is an acceptable chilling of the speech of all potential whistleblowers.
D)None of the above

Question 11

Describe at least two other times since the Pickering decision in which the Supreme Court revisited the ruling.What were the outcomes?

Question 12

How was Sherron Watkinis of Enron a typical whistleblower? An atypical whistleblower?

Question 13

Under the legal doctrine of "employment at will" an employee can be lawfully terminated from her job for:
I)wearing a shirt that clashes with her suit
II)any non-discriminatory reason
III)complaining about illegal activity in the workplace
IV)only for good cause

A)I only
B)II only
C)I and II
D)III and IV

Question 14

"Groupthink" is always to be trusted because the great number of people needed to come to one consensus is usually correct.

Question 15

There are several reasons why whistleblowing may not be protected on an international level.These include:

A)Dictators typically do not care if companies are engaging in illegal activities.
B)Collective or collaborative cultures may frown on whistleblowing instead of working together to fix a problem.
C)Many nations across the globe do not have the dishonesty problems that are found in western nations.
D)Most business is not truly international and so there has been no push for globalization of protection.