Live data from Hacker News

German Bundestag Passes Whistleblower Protection Act

bakertilly.de

11–20 of 43 posts

Re: German Bundestag Passes Whistleblower Protection Act

#11
post #8

Welcome as this is, I think the US is way ahead of most countries because it guarantees whistleblowers a share of the resulting fines etc.

This is news to me, are there famous examples? Otherwise I am not sure, if money is the solution to everything, as it could create incentive to create problems or make them worse, only to eventually receive a bigger part of the fines.

Good point!!!

Re: German Bundestag Passes Whistleblower Protection Act

#12

Welcome as this is, I think the US is way ahead of most countries because it guarantees whistleblowers a share of the resulting fines etc.

Damn, somebody should tell Snowden.

20% of $0 in fines isn’t super lucrative.

Re: German Bundestag Passes Whistleblower Protection Act

#14
post #8

Welcome as this is, I think the US is way ahead of most countries because it guarantees whistleblowers a share of the resulting fines etc.

This is news to me, are there famous examples? Otherwise I am not sure, if money is the solution to everything, as it could create incentive to create problems or make them worse, only to eventually receive a bigger part of the fines.

I'm afraid I can't cite them to you, but as I recall, some whistleblowers have received gigantic sums of money, and some have been denied. You really can't count on a windfall, and if it comes, it might be years later.

Whether the denials were justified or not -- can't say.

Re: German Bundestag Passes Whistleblower Protection Act

#15
post #8

Welcome as this is, I think the US is way ahead of most countries because it guarantees whistleblowers a share of the resulting fines etc.

This is news to me, are there famous examples? Otherwise I am not sure, if money is the solution to everything, as it could create incentive to create problems or make them worse, only to eventually receive a bigger part of the fines.

Googling "largest whistleblower reward" turns up a $114 million reward and a $200 million reward.

> create problems or make them worse

Personally, I'd hope that the sophistication of the regulators involved, and the liable parties' lawyers---if you're doing something bad enough to be liable for billions of dollars in fines, you can afford good lawyers---would be a good guard against whistleblowers' trying to game the system.

Re: German Bundestag Passes Whistleblower Protection Act

#16
post #8

Welcome as this is, I think the US is way ahead of most countries because it guarantees whistleblowers a share of the resulting fines etc.

This is news to me, are there famous examples? Otherwise I am not sure, if money is the solution to everything, as it could create incentive to create problems or make them worse, only to eventually receive a bigger part of the fines.

There are some articles from march 2022 saying that payouts had reached 1.1$ Billion.

Re: German Bundestag Passes Whistleblower Protection Act

#18
post #8

Welcome as this is, I think the US is way ahead of most countries because it guarantees whistleblowers a share of the resulting fines etc.

This is news to me, are there famous examples? Otherwise I am not sure, if money is the solution to everything, as it could create incentive to create problems or make them worse, only to eventually receive a bigger part of the fines.

There is the False Claims Act[1] and it has been used to fight corruption in the hospice care industry but it does not seem to have really stopped it[2].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_Claims_Act

[2] https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/12/05/how-hospice-be...

Re: German Bundestag Passes Whistleblower Protection Act

#19

Welcome as this is, I think the US is way ahead of most countries because it guarantees whistleblowers a share of the resulting fines etc.

Damn, somebody should tell Snowden.

Those were not corporate whistleblowers

Re: German Bundestag Passes Whistleblower Protection Act

#20
post #6

Welcome as this is, I think the US is way ahead of most countries because it guarantees whistleblowers a share of the resulting fines etc.

I only know of this in securities violations and maybe one aspect of the medical field? Can you elaborate most? Most employees and stakeholders are just lucky if they aren't ostracized from their field forever.

Securities fraud and tax fraud. I think it only applies to those two limited areas.
Post reply on HN