Compliance Week interviews Phillips & Cohen partner Sean McKessy about the risks that whistleblowers take and the support and incentives they need to be encouraged to report misconduct.
“This is an extraordinary risk that people are taking—it could be career-altering or career-ending,” said Sean McKessy, who led the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of the Whistleblower from 2012-16. “A payout offers the opportunity to be financially rewarded, to compensate you for what you lost, or allow you to never have to work again,” he said. The success of the SEC’s whistleblower program, McKessy said, “underscores that the financial incentive is a very important piece of the puzzle.”
But so are other facets. “At the end of the day, the kind of things that motivate whistleblowers and even the playing field are built into the program: confidentiality, payment, and anti-retaliation provisions,” McKessy said.
Read the entire article, “Waiting for payout a grueling test of tenacity for whistleblowers,” on Compliance Week’s website (subscription required).