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Sarbanes-Oxley News & Developments
Woes Of Sarbanes-Oxley WhistleblowersWill Sarbanes-Oxley spark employee lawsuits?
> > In the wake of Sarbanes-Oxley, some serious misconceptions have arisen about what blowing the whistle actually means.
Employees believe that now they can report financial fraud without fear of reprisal, and maybe even reap a financial reward. Executives are spooked by the prospect of disgruntled employees burning up hotlines with spurious complaints. They worry that anti-retaliation provisions in Sarbox will saddle them with unproductive employees that they are afraid to fire.
The managing responsibility for the whistleblower provisions has been assigned to OSHA. OSHA has neither the manpower or authority to conduct real investigations of corportae fraud. Also, most whistleblower cases are eventually dismissed or withdrawn - why? - because some companies have better attorneys, some accusers just have a grudge and others mistake legitimate accounting techniques for fraud.
It is perhaps inevitable that the people most likely to blow the whistle are the least likely to have damaging information but the reverse can also be true. The act of turning in a colleague is hard for most, and the higher the position in a company can make it more difficult for the whistleblower.
Source: CFO article by Julia Homer, Editor-in-Chief
Published:2003-10-01
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