A panel of professors at Oswego State discussed ethics in business on Wednesday, prompted by the viewing of the first episode of the PBS three-part series, “Playing by the Rules: Ethics at Work.”

Debbie Stack, senior director of education and community engagement at the PBS affiliate Syracuse television station, WCNY, presented the 30-minute documentary “The Whistleblower” and moderated the discussion.

The panel consisted of David Andrews, an economics professor and chair of the economics department, Pamela Cox, a management professor, and Robert Card, a philosophy professor.

“The Whistleblower” showed how an employee of Citibank made the decision to report unethical and illegal business, losing the job she loved. In the documentary, the employee noticed fraud in mortgage paperwork and told her boss and up the chain of power, but they ignored her and told her to “cook the books.” She then sued the company and was given a settlement of over $30 million.

Stack prompted the first question, asking how often employees are ignored by their higher ups in regards to reporting issues to them. Cox said she did not know the percentage, but the employee did the right thing in initially going to her boss rather than going directly to the press, which happens in some cases of whistleblowers.

“She was asked to cook the books. She was asked to hide the fraud that was going on,” Cox said. “Had she done that, she would have been breaking the law. Had she done what her bosses asked her to do and hide it, she wouldn’t be credible.”

Andrews added that most of the time, fraud is not so apparent as it was in this case, and so it is more difficult to reveal.

“I think a lot of time, people just quit and go into something else rather than trying to fight back,” Andrews said.

Card brought up the idea of whistleblowers’ loyalties. He said some could view their actions as disloyal, but he said he believes that, in this case, it was better for the company and the economy in the long term to expose the fraud.

“If one were to say that someone like Sherry Hunt [the employee] is a disloyal person, I’m suspicious of that in part because it seems that so much public good was done through her actions, or at least so much bad was avoided,” Card said.

The same topic was brought back later in the discussion by a question from an audience member. Card then asked what we are loyal to in a company: the people in it or as an abstract identity? Stack added that the older generations would be less likely to support whistleblowers because they typically have a deeper sense of loyalty to the company itself, many of whom stayed in the same job for decades and could not imagine changing jobs frequently. Cox contributed that she believes it is important to remain loyal to one’s own core values and be able to reflect on one’s job with satisfaction that aligns with those values.

As for effectiveness of this case of whistleblowing, all the panelists agreed that although the employee was given a settlement, that amount was most likely not a large inconvenience to the big company, and that since there was no criminal prosecution despite evident criminal activities, nothing was really learned.

“Without any criminal prosecution at some level, this could just be the cost of doing business,” Card said.

Photo: Taylor Woods | The Oswegonian