Chapter 07
Blowing the Whistle
True / False Questions
1. If an employee’s personal value system prompts him or her to speak up about the
misconduct of the organization he or she works for, the employee takes on the role of a whistle-
blower.
2. A whistle-blower is an individual who discovers corporate misconduct and chooses not to
do anything about it.
3. Internal whistle-blowing occurs when an employee discovers corporate misconduct
within his or her organization and brings it to the attention of law enforcement agencies and/or
the media.
4. Internal whistle-blowing involves an employee bringing the organization’s misconduct to
the attention of his or her manager or supervisor and taking the complaint through appropriate
channels within the organization.
5. External whistle-blowing occurs when an employee brings the misconduct of the
organization—that he or she is employed by—to the attention of law enforcement officials.
6. If an individual reports a company—that he or she is not employed by—for misconduct,
the individual is called an external whistle-blower.
7. Whistle-blowers are often severely criticized since they have in some way breached the
trust and loyalty they owe to their employers.
8. It is argued that the actions of whistle-blowers are not always motivated by their integrity,
but by money or by their egos.
9. Whistle-blowing is not considered ethical under any circumstances.
10. Whistle-blowing is ethical in situations where the company, through a product or decision,
will cause serious and considerable harm to the public.
11. When a whistle-blower’s immediate supervisor does not act, the employee should exhaust
the company’s internal procedures and chain of command to the board of directors.
12. If there is evidence that the employee is motivated by the opportunity for financial gain,
the legitimacy of his or her whistle-blowing should be questioned.
13. If there is evidence that the employee is carrying out an individual vendetta against the
company, the legitimacy of his or her whistle-blowing should be questioned.
14. An employee can never benefit from whistle-blowing in the corporate sector.
15. Under the federal Civil False Claims Act, whistle-blowers are referred to as “relators.”
16. The federal Civil False Claims Act prevents whistle-blowers from implicating the
government in any way.
17. Under the federal Civil False Claims Act, whistle-blowers who expose fraudulent behavior
against the government are entitled to a minimum of 75 percent of the amount recovered.
18. The False Claims Act was amended in 1986 to make the penalization for whistle-blowers
stiffer.
19. A
qui
tam
lawsuit is a lawsuit brought on behalf of the federal government by a whistle–
blower under the False Claims Act of 1863.
20.
Qui
tam
lawsuits are illegal under the False Claims Act.
21. The abbreviation “
qui
tam
” establishes a whistle-blower as a deputized petitioner for the
government in cases that expose fraudulent behavior of companies.
22. The evidence of a company’s misconduct—even if supported by genuine, documented
proof—will be rejected and the case dismissed if there is evidence that the whistle-blower was
motivated by financial gain.
23. Tracking the history of internal whistle-blowing is easier than tracking the history of
external whistle-blowing.
24. Organizations can prevent the embarrassment and potential financial ruin caused by
whistle-blowing by creating an internal system that gives whistle-blowers the option of being
heard, thus resolving the issue in private.
25. Whistle-blowers, throughout history, have always been granted legal protection against
retaliatory behavior.
26. Before the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 was passed, whistle-blowers were not
entitled to any sort of monetary reward from the government.
27. The False Claims Act of 1863 specifically protected whistle-blowers from retaliatory
behavior.
28. The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 first addressed the issue of retaliation against
corporate employees who bring accusations of unethical behavior.
29. Currently, legal protection for whistle-blowers who are federal employees exists only
through legislation that encourages the moral behavior of employees who feel compelled to
speak out, without offering any safeguards against retaliation aimed at them.
30. The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 did not apply to federal employees.
31. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 not only prohibits retaliation against whistle-blowers but
also encourages the act of whistle-blowing itself.
32. The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 is also known as the Corporate and Criminal
Fraud Accountability Act.
33. The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 introduced a new reward program for whistle–
blowers who report securities law violations to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or
the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
34. Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Protection Act of 2010, a whistle-blower is
penalized stiffly for acting against the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
35. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Protection Act of 2010 stipulates that if more
than $1 million is collected, the whistle-blower is entitled to between 10 and 30 percent of the
monies collected.
36. The “Office of the Whistleblower” was created by the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
37. An employee can anonymously alert a company of suspected misconduct within the
organization using the whistle-blower hotline.
38. The whistle-blower hotline is used by the government to keep track of whistle-blowers.
39. For a whistle-blower hotline to work, trust must be established between employees and
their employer.
40. Becoming a whistle-blower and taking the story public should be seen as the first resort
rather than the last.
41. An employee who discovers corporate misconduct and chooses to bring it to the attention
of others is referred to as a(n) _____.
42. _____ whistle-blowing involves an employee bringing corporate misconduct to the
attention of his or her manager or supervisor, who then follows established procedures to
address the misconduct within the organization.
43. The two types of whistle-blowing, internal and external, are categorized based on:
44. In internal whistle-blowing, an employee who discovers corporate misconduct brings it to
the attention of:
45. In _____ whistle-blowing, an employee who discovers corporate misconduct brings it to
the attention of law enforcement agencies and/or the media.
46. In external whistle-blowing, an employee who discovers corporate misconduct brings it to
the attention of:
47. Alan, an employee at Urania Corp., finds a major discrepancy in the company’s inventory
list. Upon further investigation, he discovers that his department head has been tampering with
the inventory data for personal profits. He immediately reports it to a higher authority within the
organization with proof. In this scenario, Alan plays the role of an _____ whistle-blower.
48. Sandra, an executive officer of a company, has collected reports which prove that the
CEO has been misappropriating company and investor funds. She takes the matter public and
issues a statement against the CEO. Sandra is an _____ whistle-blower.
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49. Which of the following employees is an external whistle-blower?
50. Which of the following statements is true of whistle-blowers?
51. Which of the following is true of corporate whistle–blowing?