Likely Voters Demand Congressional Action to Strengthen Corporate Whistleblower Protections

The newly released Whistleblower News Network poll on whistleblowing concludes that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe that Congress should prioritize passing laws with stronger whistleblower protections for corporate employees.

The poll, conducted in September by Marist (an A+ rated pollster), asked American adults a straightforward question: “Do you think passing stronger laws that protect employees who report corporate fraud should be an immediate priority for Congress, a priority but not an immediate one, or do you think this should not be a priority at all?”

29% of American adults believe stronger corporate whistleblower protections should be an immediate priority for Congress, and an additional 53% think it should be a priority but not an immediate one. These results demonstrate that approximately 82% of Americans believe Congress should prioritize corporate whistleblower protections. Notably, these figures remain relatively constant with registered voters and likely voters.

While there is a difference in response rates between Democrats and Republicans, overall, the support for Congressional action on corporate whistleblower protections remains high regardless of political affiliation. Approximately 87% of Democrats and 74% of Republicans believe Congress should prioritize stronger laws to protect corporate whistleblowers. Whistleblowing is a bipartisan cause.

The demographics with the highest number of respondents demanding immediate Congressional action on corporate whistleblower protections were Black and Latino Americans. Almost half of each demographic responded that it should be an immediate priority. While only 24% of white Americans responded that it should be an immediate priority, the percentage of respondents claiming it to be some level of a priority remains similarly high across racial lines.

In 2010, Congress revolutionized American corporate whistleblowing legislation with the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, which contains some of the world’s strongest whistleblower provisions. However, other bills that would strengthen and broaden protections for corporate whistleblowers remain unpassed. These bills include the Illicit Cash Act, the Wildlife Conservation & Anti-Trafficking Act, and the Whistleblower Program Improvements Act. According to the poll, the American public wants Congress to prioritize these bills.