In some circles the term "whistleblower" is a dirty word. If you want to blow the whistle on someone or something, be prepared to pay the consequences. It takes a strong person to resist the pressures that come as a result of blowing the whistle. The side effects of whistleblowing come whether a person is trying to stop sexual harassment or stop a doctor who is unfit to take care of patents.

Whistleblowing often leads to the end of one's job, especially in nursing (The effects of interpersonal closeness and issue seriousness on blowing the whistle, By King, Granville III, Journal of Business Communication, October 1997. ) If the person is not terminated directly by their employer, their jobs are generally made as miserable as possible. Often peers will stop talking to the person who is trying to blow the whistle making that person's job almost impossible to do or just plain unenjoyable. There are several question a person must answer for themselves before they decide to blow the whistle;

* Whose problem is this, anyway?
* Must I do anything about it?
* Is it my fault?
* Who am I to judge?
* Have I got the facts straight?
* Should I ignore the situation? tolerate it?
* What do I get out of this?
* Is it worth the trouble?
* Is anything to be gained?
* What will it cost me? (Curtin, Leah L. Damage control and the whistleblower , Nursing Management, May 1993)

There are laws that are designed to protect whistle blowers, however most consider the federal law to be inadequate because it basically says that whistle blowers have the right to sue a company that harassed them and not much more. These laws do give people the opportunity to try and protect themselves against harassment. A common tact of companies to get rid of "trouble makers" is to create charges against whistle blowers. Charges can be anything from poor performance to sexual harassment.

Resources
1) alt.whistleblowing and it's FAQ (although activity in this group seems pretty low and I was unable to get my hands on a copy of the FAQ)

2)Whistle Blowing, http://www.disgruntled.com/blowing.html. This sight is basically a collection of first hand anecdotes about whistle blowing and other work related issues.
3)Information About Blowing The Whistle, http://www.pogo.org/pogo5.html. A sight by POGO (Project On Government Oversight) which provides help for people who are whistle blowers.

4)BLOWING THE WHISTLE: How to Protect Yourself and Win. A video that shows successful methods of whistle blowing. (http://www.videoproject.org/videoproject/BlowingtheWhistle.html)

5)Government Accountability Project:Whistleblower Support, http://www.accessone.com/gap/index.htm. A very good sight that is out there to support whistle blowers and provide resources for them.

The closest thing I found to a FAQ on whistleblowing is the following information found on an attorney's web sight;

"Whistle-blowing" is when an employee tells on an employer who is breaking the law. Employees who blow the whistle on their employers are protected by law. If they are fired or otherwise retaliated against for whistle-blowing, they can sue.

What Is Whistle-Blowing?

To actually whistle-blow, the employee must tell of the illegal act to someone outside the company. It must be a government or law-enforcement agency.

If the employee just complains to someone inside the company, that is not whistleblowing, and the employee is not protected by the whistleblower laws. However, the employee may be protected under other laws. For example, it is illegal to fire someone for complaining of sexual harassment or discrimination.

Does the Employer Have to Have Broken the Law?

It is not necessary that the employer actually broke the law. The employee could be whistleblowing on something that isn't illegal in the first place. The employee is still protected from retaliation or termination.

However, the employee must believe that he or she is reporting a violation of the law, and the employee's belief must be reasonable.

How is the Employee Protected?

If the employee has reported the allegedly illegal activity to a government or law enforcement agency, he or she is protected. The employer cannot retaliate against the employee. The employer cannot fire the employee for the whistleblowing. The employer cannot mistreat the employee for whistleblowing.

This does not mean that after whistleblowing, the employee cannot be fired for any reason The employer can continue to treat the employee like any other employee. But the employer cannot treat the employee differently because of the whistleblowing.

Obviously, if the employee whistleblows on Monday and is fired on Tuesday, it suggests that the employee was retaliated against for making the report. (Whistle blowing, http://discriminationattorney.com/whistle.html)