15. As a junior staff accountant for a publicly traded corporation, you were sho
ID: 363725 • Letter: 1
Question
15. As a junior staff accountant for a publicly traded corporation, you were shocked when your department head told you to book January sales shipments as if they had occurred in December so the company could “make it rain” in the earlier year. You later learned that “rain” was a company code word for how executives were “showered” with cash bonuses for achieving targeted earnings milestones.
You made an audio recording of this conversation and sent it to the company’s Audit Committee. You did not include a written explanation, and you did not provide identifying information that would enable the Audit Committee to further investigate your claim. Also, you ignored company procedures that state that you must first attempt to resolve issues of this type with “supervisory personnel in your department.”
If the company discovers your identity and retaliates against you, are you entitled to protection as a whistleblower? Explain?
Explanation / Answer
According the whistle-blower protection act if any official retaliates to the activity of whistle blowing by an employee then that employee is protected under this act.
In this the accountant was protected under the act as he tried to blow the whistle of the executives who asked him to manipulate the accounts to commit fraud. He is did what he thought to be best. Instead of encouraging him if the company is retaliating then such employee stands protected. The company's policy of discussing within the organisation first might have led to suppression of such employee and such activity so for not discussing it within the organisation the company cannot retaliate against the employee.
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