Through the Eyes of a Whistle-blower

Through the Eyes of a Whistle-blower
Author: Adam Waytz
Publisher:
Total Pages: 6
Release: 2016
Genre: Business ethics
ISBN: 9781473972254

In 2011, Sherry Hunt was a vice president and chief underwriter at CitiMortgage headquarters in the United States. For years she had been witnessing fraud, as the company bought billions of dollars in mortgage loans from external lenders that did not meet Citi credit policy and sold them to government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). This resulted in Citi selling to GSEs such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pools of loans that were considerably defective and thus likely to default. Citi had also approved hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of defective mortgage files for U.S. Federal Housing Administration insurance. After reporting the mortgage defects in regular reports, notifying and working closely with her direct supervisor (who was subsequently asked to leave Citi after alerting the chairman of the board to these issues) to stop the purchase of defective loans, leaving anonymous tips on the FBI's and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's websites, and receiving threats from two of her superiors who demanded that she change the results of her quality control unit's reports, the shy and conflict-avoidant Hunt had to decide who she should tell about the fraud, and how. The case gives students the opportunity to recommend how Hunt should proceed based on their analysis of the stakeholders involved. To aid instructors, the case includes Kellogg-produced videos of Hunt--the only on-camera interviews she has ever given--explaining what happened after she reported the fraud to Citi HR and, later, the U.S. Department of Justice. Within the case, students are also briefly exposed to legislation and bodies pertinent to whistle-blowing in the United States, including the Dodd-Frank Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and the SEC Office of the Whistleblower. This case won the 2014 competition for Outstanding Case on Anti-Corruption, supported by the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), an initiative of the UN Global Compact. - Analyze stakeholders' motivations to prepare counter-arguments to the resistance one might encounter when reporting unethical behavior - Write a script for who to tell, how, and why - Discuss how incentive structures, management, and culture play roles in promoting or hindering ethical behavior in organizations - Identify behaviors that help a whistle-blower be effective - Gain experience resolving ethical dilemmas in which two values may conflict, such as professional duty and personal ethics.

Whistleblower

Whistleblower
Author: Susan J. Fowler
Publisher: Viking Adult
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2020
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0525560122

The unbelievable true story of the young woman who faced down one of the most valuable startups in Silicon Valley history--and what came after In 2017, twenty-five-year-old Susan Fowler published a blog post detailing the sexual harassment and retaliation she'd experienced as an entry-level engineer at Uber. The post went viral, leading not only to the ouster of Uber's CEO and twenty other employees, but "starting a bonfire on creepy sexual behavior in Silicon Valley that . . . spread to Hollywood and engulfed Harvey Weinstein" (Maureen Dowd, The New York Times). When Susan decided to share her story, she was fully aware of the consequences most women faced for speaking out about harassment prior to the #MeToo era. But, as her inspiring memoir, Whistleblower, reveals, this courageous act was entirely consistent with Susan's young life so far: a life characterized by extraordinary determination, a refusal to accept things as they are, and the desire to do what is good and right. Growing up in poverty in rural Arizona, she was denied a formal education--yet went on to obtain an Ivy League degree. When she was told, after discovering the pervasive culture of sexism, harassment, racism, and abuse at Uber, that she was the problem, she banded together with other women to try to make change. When that didn't work, she went public. She could never have anticipated what would follow: that she would be investigated, followed, and harrassed; that her words would change much more than Uber; or that they would set her on a course toward finally achieving her dreams. The moving story of a woman's lifelong fight to do what she loves--despite repeatedly being told no or treated as less-than--Whistleblower is both a riveting read and a source of inspiration for anyone seeking to stand up against inequality in their own workplace.

The Whistleblower

The Whistleblower
Author: Bob Katz
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2020
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0826361986

In this vivid portrait of one consummate professional at the top of his game, Katz pulls off an unbelievable feat in The Whistleblower--readers actually come to root for the ref.

What the Eyes Don't See

What the Eyes Don't See
Author: Mona Hanna-Attisha
Publisher: One World
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2018-06-19
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0399590846

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • The dramatic story of the Flint water crisis, by a relentless physician who stood up to power. “Stirring . . . [a] blueprint for all those who believe . . . that ‘the world . . . should be full of people raising their voices.’”—The New York Times “Revealing, with the gripping intrigue of a Grisham thriller.” —O: The Oprah Magazine Here is the inspiring story of how Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, alongside a team of researchers, parents, friends, and community leaders, discovered that the children of Flint, Michigan, were being exposed to lead in their tap water—and then battled her own government and a brutal backlash to expose that truth to the world. Paced like a scientific thriller, What the Eyes Don’t See reveals how misguided austerity policies, broken democracy, and callous bureaucratic indifference placed an entire city at risk. And at the center of the story is Dr. Mona herself—an immigrant, doctor, scientist, and mother whose family’s activist roots inspired her pursuit of justice. What the Eyes Don’t See is a riveting account of a shameful disaster that became a tale of hope, the story of a city on the ropes that came together to fight for justice, self-determination, and the right to build a better world for their—and all of our—children. Praise for What the Eyes Don’t See “It is one thing to point out a problem. It is another thing altogether to step up and work to fix it. Mona Hanna-Attisha is a true American hero.”—Erin Brockovich “A clarion call to live a life of purpose.”—The Washington Post “Gripping . . . entertaining . . . Her book has power precisely because she takes the events she recounts so personally. . . . Moral outrage present on every page.”—The New York Times Book Review “Personal and emotional. . . She vividly describes the effects of lead poisoning on her young patients. . . . She is at her best when recounting the detective work she undertook after a tip-off about lead levels from a friend. . . . ‛Flint will not be defined by this crisis,’ vows Ms. Hanna-Attisha.”—The Economist “Flint is a public health disaster. But it was Dr. Mona, this caring, tough pediatrican turned detective, who cracked the case.”—Rachel Maddow

Waking Up Blind

Waking Up Blind
Author: Thomas Harbin
Publisher: Hillcrest Publishing Group
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2009
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1934938874

Includes bibliographical references (p. 228-230).

Crisis of Conscience

Crisis of Conscience
Author: Tom Mueller
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 610
Release: 2019-10-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0698405102

"A call to arms and to action, for anyone with a conscience, anyone alarmed about the decline of our democracy." — New York Times-bestselling author Wendell Potter "Powerful...His extensively reported tales of individual whistleblowers and their often cruel fates are compelling...They reveal what it can mean to live in an age of fraud." — The Washington Post "Tom Mueller's authoritative and timely book reveals what drives a few brave souls to expose and denounce specific cases of corruption. He describes the structural decay that plagues many of our most powerful institutions, putting democracy itself in danger." —George Soros A David-and-Goliath story for our times: the riveting account of the heroes who are fighting a rising tide of wrongdoing by the powerful, and showing us the path forward. We live in a period of sweeping corruption -- and a golden age of whistleblowing. Over the past few decades, principled insiders who expose wrongdoing have gained unprecedented legal and social stature, emerging as the government's best weapon against corporate misconduct--and the citizenry's best defense against government gone bad. Whistleblowers force us to confront fundamental questions about the balance between free speech and state secrecy, and between individual morality and corporate power. In Crisis of Conscience, Tom Mueller traces the rise of whistleblowing through a series of riveting cases drawn from the worlds of healthcare and other businesses, Wall Street, and Washington. Drawing on in-depth interviews with more than two hundred whistleblowers and the trailblazing lawyers who arm them for battle--plus politicians, intelligence analysts, government watchdogs, cognitive scientists, and other experts--Mueller anatomizes what inspires some to speak out while the rest of us become complicit in our silence. Whistleblowers, we come to see, are the freethinking, outspoken citizens for whom our republic was conceived. And they are the models we must emulate if our democracy is to survive.

A Whistleblower's Lament

A Whistleblower's Lament
Author: Stuart Namm
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014
Genre: Judges
ISBN: 9781555717407

Originally elected against great odds, post Watergate, Judge Stuart Namm spent over 16 years on the bench in Suffolk County, New York, a Long Island suburb of New York City. Dubbed in the Hollywood Reporter as the Serpico Judges, and by his detractors as the Hanging Judge and Maximum Stu for his willingness to frequently hand out the maximum 25 years to life sentence in intentional murder convictions. At that time, New York state had no death penalty. In 1985, he wrote Gov. Mario Cuomo to request the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to investigate the county's criminal justice system, believing there was rampant corruption in the elite Police Homicide Squad and District Attorney's office, and that cases were being manufactured to obtain convictions in major homicide trials. After a three year investigation by the State Investigations Commission, his whistleblowing resulted in numerous forced resignations and transfers in the police department, at the highest level of county government, and in the police laboratory. As a result of a deal, he was denied renomination by his own political party led by his former law partner, and ultimately this was the demise of his illustrious judicial career. A Whistleblower's Lament is Judge Stuart Namm's compelling, personal account of his life in the law and politics, and the events that brought it to an end. Three weeks after leaving New York, he was the first recipient of the Justice Thurgood Marshall award and two other prestigious awards, including a lifetime membership in the NAACP.

Extraordinary Circumstances

Extraordinary Circumstances
Author: Cynthia Cooper
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 423
Release: 2009-03-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0470443316

The longer WorldCom Chief Audit Executive Cynthia Cooper stares at the entries in front of her, the more sinister they seem. But the CFO is badgering her to delay her team's audit of the company's books and directing others to block Cooper's efforts. Still, something in the pit of her stomach tells her to keep digging. Cooper takes readers behind the scenes on a riveting, real-time journey as she and her team work at night and behind closed doors to expose the largest fraud in corporate history. Whom can they trust? Could she lose her job? Should she fear for her physical safety? In Extraordinary Circumstances, she recounts for the first time her journey from her close family upbringing in a small Mississippi town, to working motherhood and corporate success, to the pressures of becoming a whistleblower, to being named one of Time's 2002 Persons of the Year. She also provides a rare insider's glimpse into the spectacular rise and fall of WorldCom, a telecom titan, the darling of Wall Street, and a Cinderella story for Mississippi. With remarkable candor, Cooper discusses her struggle to overcome these challenges, and how she has found healing through sharing the lessons learned with the next generation. This book reminds us all that ethical decision-making is not forged at the crossroads of major events but starts in childhood, "decision by decision and brick by brick." At a time when corporate dishonesty is dominating public attention, Extraordinary Circumstances makes it clear that the tone set at the top is critical to fostering an ethical environment in the work-place. Provocative, moving, and intensely personal, Extraordinary Circumstances is a wake-up call to corporate leaders and an intimate glimpse at a scandal that shook the business world.

Targeted

Targeted
Author: Brittany Kaiser
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 435
Release: 2019-10-22
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0062965808

An “important and gripping” memoir by the woman who blew the whistle on Cambridge Analytica and the data industry’s unethical practices (The Washington Post). When Brittany Kaiser joined Cambridge Analytica—the UK-based political consulting firm funded by conservative billionaire and Donald Trump patron Robert Mercer—she was an idealistic young professional, a veteran of Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign with degrees in human rights law and international relations. Her goal was to utilize data for humanitarian purposes, most notably to prevent genocide and human rights abuses. But her experience inside Cambridge Analytica opened her eyes to the tremendous risks this unregulated industry poses to privacy and democracy. In this explosive memoir, she reveals the disturbing truth about the multi-billion-dollar data industry, revealing how companies are getting richer using our personal information and exposing how Cambridge Analytica exploited weaknesses in privacy laws to help elect Donald Trump in 2016. Targeted is Kaiser’s eyewitness chronicle of the dramatic and disturbing story of the rise and fall of Cambridge Analytica. She reveals how Facebook’s lax policies and lack of sufficient national laws allowed voters to be manipulated in both Britain and the US, where personal data was weaponized to spread fake news and racist messaging during the Brexit vote and the 2016 election. In the aftermath, as she became aware of the horrifying reality of what Cambridge Analytica had done, Kaiser made the difficult choice to expose the truth. Risking her career, relationships, and personal safety, she told authorities about the industry’s unethical practices, eventually testifying before Parliament about the company’s Brexit efforts and helping Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, alongside at least ten other international investigations. Packed with never-before-publicly-told stories, Targeted goes inside the secretive meetings with Trump campaign personnel—and makes the case that legal oversight of the data industry is not only justifiable but essential to ensuring the long-term safety of our democracy. “Captivating and revelatory.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) Includes photographs

Women, Whistleblowing, WikiLeaks

Women, Whistleblowing, WikiLeaks
Author: Renata Avila
Publisher: OR Books
Total Pages: 82
Release: 2018-02-08
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1682191176

The most controversial activist organization of the 21st century, WikiLeaks has attracted strong, divergent opinions from across the political spectrum. Lauded by its supporters for its indispensable role in holding governments, corporations, and human rights abusers to account, its advocates and journalists have been excoriated by opponents as traitors, threats to legitimate governments, and misogynists. Yet so much media attention is focused upon founder Julian Assange, and his ongoing confinement in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, that the broader dimensions of WikiLeaks are rarely aired. Especially critical in these omissions is the role of women, both in the organization and the more general struggle for information freedom. Women, Whistleblowing, WikiLeaks presents a conversation between three extraordinary advocates who have been at the forefront of such activity: acclaimed journalist and human rights advocate Sarah Harrison, Croatian-German theater director, activist and author Angela Richter, and Renata Avila, a celebrated Guatemalan human rights lawyer and digital rights expert. Ranging widely, from the dishonesty of the mainstream media and its contrasting treatment of Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning to the terrifying monopolization of personal data under tech behemoths such as Facebook and Google, this book is a crucial intervention in the ongoing debate around digital activism.