Ethics and the Workplace:
Whistleblowing and Liability Issues
Discussion: How are Computers Changing the Workplace?
- Are jobs lost or gained?
- What is IT literacy?
- What's a Luddite? (The Luddite revolt took place in England
in 1811-1812. The mythical leader of the revolt was Gen. Ned Ludd)
Whistleblowing
- Federal Whistle Blower Protection Act of 1989: Protects
Federal employees from adverse consequences.
- Some states also have whistleblowing statues.
Notable Cases
- 3 Engineers vs. BART
- The Challenger Accident and Morton Thiokol, Inc.
For more reading see, K. Bowyer, Ethics and Computing.
IEEE Press, 1996: 211-245.
Liability
- Professional Insurance
- Business Insurance
Discussion
- What are your "loyalities" to your job? Can you accept
a job offer from a competing firm?"
- Imagine you have a co-worker with a substance abuse problem. What do
you do?
- Imagine that you suspect a co-worker is stealing from the company.
What do you do?