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13 Hofstra Lab. L. J. 109 (1995-1996)
Whistleblowers: Corporate Anarchists or Heroes? Towards a Judicial Perspective

handle is hein.journals/hlelj13 and id is 115 raw text is: WHISTLEBLOWERS: CORPORATE ANARCHISTS OR HEROES? TOWARDS A JUDICIAL PERSPECTIVE David Culp' This article explores the whistleblower's plight.' Inside the corpora- tion, everyone, or almost everyone, hates them. They are reviled by corporate management and shunned by co-workers. This article exam- ines whether the legal system adequately protects whistleblowers and delineates the direction the law should take to safeguard them while at the same time protect companies against malicious or badfaith actions by disgruntled employees. I. THE CHALLENGER LAUNCH - DISASTER IN THE EMERALD CITY We all know the story. On January 28, 1986, in sub-freezing weather, the space shuttle Challenger began its lift-off from the Kennedy Space Center and exploded just seventy-three seconds into its flight, killing all seven astronauts trapped inside the inferno.2 The Rogers Commission, formed to investigate the disaster, concluded that the explosion occurred due to the seal failure of a solid rocket booster joint.3 The death of the astronauts should never have happened. Morton Thiokol, Inc. (Morton Thiokol), the company that manufactured solid fuel rocket boosters for the space shuttle program including those used on the Challenger,4 had previously warned the National Aeronautics and * B.S., Kansas University, 1964; J.D., Kansas University School of Law, 1969; LL.M., Columbia University School of Law, 1975. Assistant Professor and Director of Pre-Law Program, La Salle University. Member, Berry and Culp, P.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1. A whistleblower, or to blow the whistle, is to report or inform on. WEBSTER'S NEw WORLD DICTIONARY 1621 (2d ed. 1980). 2. Russell P. Boisjoly et. al., Roger Boisjoly and the Challenger Disaster: The Ethical Dimensions, 8 J. Bus. ETHics 217 (1989) [hereinafter Boisjoly]. 3. Id. 4. Patricia H. Werhane, Engineers and Management: The Challenge of the Challenger Inci- dent, 10 . BUS. ETics 605 (1991) [hereinafter Werhane].

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