Things To Consider Before Becoming A Whistleblower
As corporate fraud is on the rise more than ever, almost all of us come across such a situation at our workplaces where we are enlightened with the wrongdoings of our organizations.
These wrongdoings can range from the lowest level to the largest – where on the lowest level probably a supervisor could be involved without the heads knowing and on the largest level the directors could be involved without the employees knowing.
Sometimes the malpractices of our workplace get to the point where we just find ourselves intolerant of them so much that it starts affecting us mentally. It is when we decide to come clean about everything to the appropriate authorities.
But, before you decide to do that, it is important to contemplate your decision a thousand times and from every aspect. Why? Because when you decide to become a whistleblower, you put yourself in a very vulnerable position regardless of how much of the noble intentions you have.
So before you go revealing secrets about any fraudulent activity that you had been noticing around, consider the following facts.
Do you know a good lawyer?
It is really important to be in touch with a good qui tam lawyer in the case when you report any fraud under the False Claim Act. Why? Because in such lawsuits, the violation is usually conducted by companies on a very broad level against the government.
This obviously means that the organization would go to any lengths to defend themselves and in retaliation could even harm you in many ways. So, getting a lawyer’s back is usually good in such a condition to be fully compensated or covered.
Are your intentions right?
Since the False Claim Act puts a great reward for the employee who reports any violation carried out by any organization, there come many cases in which the intentions of the worker are nothing but greed and they just want that monetary reward instead of fair results.
In such cases, you are not only showing moral corruption but you will also find yourself in much deeper trouble as law firms usually refuse to take up such cases; and your true intentions come out during the investigation phase no matter how much you try to hide them.
Are you mentally strong?
As we mentioned before, when you go about whistleblowing, there are going to be some potential risks involved that would start from you losing your job to much worse. So when you get yourself involved in such legal proceedings, evaluate your mental strength.
Do you have solid evidence?
If something that has to be the most important when it comes to whistleblowing is that you have solid evidence of the fraud you are reporting. You should not rely on mere speculation, rather try and investigate on your own first.
Evaluate the situation from every angle, think about each aspect, entertain every possibility, and when you are a hundred percent, only then proceed ahead with your decision.
