0:00:01.508,0:00:04.286
How many of us have ever seen something,

0:00:04.310,0:00:07.328
thought that we should report it,[br]but decided not to?

0:00:09.119,0:00:11.149
And not that I need[br]to see a show of hands,

0:00:11.173,0:00:14.204
but I'm sure this has happened[br]to someone in this room before.

0:00:14.228,0:00:17.442
In fact, when this question[br]was asked to a group of employees,

0:00:17.466,0:00:20.934
46 percent of them responded[br]by saying that they had seen something,

0:00:20.958,0:00:22.569
and decided not to report it.

0:00:22.593,0:00:25.720
So if you raised your hand,[br]or quietly raised your hand,

0:00:25.744,0:00:27.616
don't feel bad, you're not alone.

0:00:28.069,0:00:31.458
This message of if you see something[br]to say something

0:00:31.482,0:00:33.307
is really all around us.

0:00:33.331,0:00:36.982
Even when driving down the highway,[br]you see billboards like this,

0:00:37.006,0:00:40.148
encouraging us to report crime[br]without revealing ourselves.

0:00:40.521,0:00:43.259
But I still feel like a lot of us[br]are really uncomfortable

0:00:43.283,0:00:45.403
coming forward in the name of the truth.

0:00:45.427,0:00:48.093
I'm an accounting professor[br]and I do fraud research.

0:00:48.117,0:00:52.204
And in my class, I encourage my students[br]to come forward with information

0:00:52.228,0:00:53.379
if they see it.

0:00:53.403,0:00:57.231
Or in other words, encouraging[br]my students to become whistle-blowers.

0:00:57.255,0:01:00.381
But if I'm being completely[br]honest with myself,

0:01:00.405,0:01:03.945
I am really conflicted with this message[br]that I'm sending to my students.

0:01:03.969,0:01:05.119
And here's why.

0:01:05.958,0:01:08.783
Whistle-blowers are under attack.

0:01:09.593,0:01:12.680
Headline after headline shows us this.

0:01:13.966,0:01:16.354
Many people choose[br]not to become whistle-blowers

0:01:16.378,0:01:18.688
due to the fear of retaliation.

0:01:18.712,0:01:22.339
From demotions to death threats,

0:01:22.363,0:01:24.243
to job loss --

0:01:24.267,0:01:25.783
perpetual job loss.

0:01:26.148,0:01:28.958
Choosing to become a whistle-blower[br]is an uphill battle.

0:01:29.549,0:01:31.961
Their loyalty becomes into question.

0:01:31.985,0:01:34.763
Their motives, their trustworthiness.

0:01:35.255,0:01:38.990
So how can I, as a professor[br]who really cares about her students,

0:01:39.014,0:01:41.078
encourage them to become whistle-blowers,

0:01:41.102,0:01:44.093
when I know how the world[br]truly feels about them?

0:01:44.704,0:01:47.895
So, one day I was getting ready[br]for my annual whistle-blower lecture

0:01:47.919,0:01:49.125
with my students.

0:01:49.149,0:01:51.696
And I was working on an article[br]for Forbes, entitled

0:01:51.720,0:01:53.807
"Wells Fargo and Millennial[br]Whistle-blowing.

0:01:53.831,0:01:55.014
What Do We Tell Them?"

0:01:55.038,0:01:58.156
And that I was working on this piece[br]and reading about the case,

0:01:58.180,0:01:59.585
I became outraged.

0:01:59.609,0:02:03.744
And what made me angry[br]was when I came to the fact and realized

0:02:03.768,0:02:06.410
that the employees[br]that tried to whistle-blow

0:02:06.434,0:02:07.768
were actually fired.

0:02:08.157,0:02:09.466
And it really made me think

0:02:09.490,0:02:12.236
about the message that[br]I was sharing with my students.

0:02:12.260,0:02:16.809
And it made me think, what if my students[br]had been Wells Fargo employees?

0:02:17.133,0:02:21.274
On the one hand, if they whistle-blew[br]they would have gotten fired.

0:02:21.298,0:02:22.600
But on the other hand,

0:02:22.624,0:02:25.330
if they didn't report[br]the frauds that they knew,

0:02:25.354,0:02:27.687
the way current regulation is written,

0:02:27.711,0:02:30.307
employees are held responsible

0:02:30.331,0:02:32.633
if they knew something[br]and didn't report it.

0:02:32.657,0:02:35.609
So criminal prosecution is a real option.

0:02:35.633,0:02:38.805
What's a person supposed to do[br]with those type of odds?

0:02:38.829,0:02:42.789
I of all people know[br]the valuable contributions

0:02:42.813,0:02:44.345
that whistle-blowers make.

0:02:44.369,0:02:47.369
In fact, most frauds[br]are discovered by them.

0:02:47.919,0:02:50.832
Forty two percent of frauds[br]are discovered by a whistle-blower

0:02:50.856,0:02:52.735
in comparison to other methods,

0:02:52.759,0:02:55.355
like measurement review[br]and external audit.

0:02:55.379,0:02:57.680
And when you think[br]about some of the more classic

0:02:57.704,0:02:59.354
or historical fraud cases,

0:02:59.378,0:03:02.085
it always is around a whistle-blower.

0:03:02.109,0:03:04.847
Think Watergate -- discovered[br]by a whistle-blower.

0:03:04.871,0:03:07.760
Think Enron -- discovered[br]by a whistle-blower.

0:03:07.784,0:03:11.731
And who can forget about Bernard Madoff,[br]discovered by a whistle-blower?

0:03:12.419,0:03:16.521
It takes a tremendous amount of courage[br]to come forward in the name of the truth.

0:03:16.863,0:03:19.585
But when we think[br]about the term whistle-blower,

0:03:19.609,0:03:23.276
we often think of some[br]very descriptive words:

0:03:23.300,0:03:25.339
rat,

0:03:25.363,0:03:27.196
snake,

0:03:27.220,0:03:28.798
traitor,

0:03:28.822,0:03:30.910
tattletale, weasel.

0:03:31.252,0:03:34.430
And those are the nice words,[br]the ones I can say from the stage.

0:03:34.839,0:03:37.348
And so when I'm not in class,[br]I go around the country

0:03:37.372,0:03:39.188
and I interview white-collar felons,

0:03:39.212,0:03:41.228
whistle-blowers and victims of fraud.

0:03:41.252,0:03:44.156
Because really I'm trying to understand[br]what makes them tick,

0:03:44.180,0:03:47.061
and to bring those experiences[br]back into the classroom.

0:03:47.688,0:03:51.148
But it's my interviews with[br]whistle-blowers that really stick with me.

0:03:51.561,0:03:52.721
And they stick with me,

0:03:52.745,0:03:55.109
because they make me question[br]my own courage.

0:03:55.133,0:03:58.511
When given the opportunity,[br]would I actually speak up?

0:03:59.006,0:04:01.966
And so, this is a couple stories[br]that I want to share with you.

0:04:01.990,0:04:03.149
This is Mary.

0:04:03.173,0:04:06.925
Mary Willingham is the whistle-blower[br]from the University of North Carolina

0:04:06.949,0:04:09.548
at Chapel Hill, academic fraud case.

0:04:10.165,0:04:13.606
And Mary was a learning specialist[br]at the University,

0:04:13.630,0:04:16.656
and she worked with students,[br]primarily student athletes.

0:04:16.680,0:04:19.356
And what she noticed,[br]when she was working with students,

0:04:19.380,0:04:22.149
is they were turning in term papers

0:04:22.173,0:04:24.815
that seemed well beyond[br]their reading levels.

0:04:25.260,0:04:27.222
She started to ask a couple of questions,

0:04:27.246,0:04:29.262
and she found out[br]that there was a database

0:04:29.286,0:04:32.672
where the student athletes[br]could retrieve papers and turn them in.

0:04:32.696,0:04:35.141
And then she found out[br]that some of her colleagues

0:04:35.165,0:04:40.709
were funneling students into fake classes,[br]just to keep them eligible to play.

0:04:41.411,0:04:44.117
Now, when Mary found this out,[br]she was outraged.

0:04:44.141,0:04:47.100
And so what she tried to do[br]was go to her direct supervisor.

0:04:47.124,0:04:48.490
But they didn't do anything.

0:04:48.990,0:04:52.799
And then Mary tried to go to some[br]internal University administrators.

0:04:52.823,0:04:54.474
And they didn't do anything.

0:04:54.498,0:04:56.839
So, what happens when nobody listens?

0:04:56.863,0:04:58.045
You blog.

0:04:58.069,0:04:59.958
So Mary decided to develop a blog.

0:04:59.982,0:05:02.664
Her blog went viral within 24 hours,

0:05:02.688,0:05:05.188
and she was contacted by a reporter.

0:05:05.212,0:05:07.506
Now, when she was contacted[br]by this reporter,

0:05:07.530,0:05:09.291
her identity was known.

0:05:09.315,0:05:10.672
She was exposed.

0:05:10.696,0:05:14.387
And when she was exposed,[br]she received a demotion,

0:05:14.411,0:05:17.445
death threats, over collegiate sports.

0:05:18.268,0:05:22.077
Mary didn't do anything wrong,[br]she didn't participate in the fraud,

0:05:22.101,0:05:24.331
she really thought[br]that she was giving voice

0:05:24.355,0:05:26.339
to students that were voiceless.

0:05:26.696,0:05:28.763
But her loyalty was questioned.

0:05:29.085,0:05:31.728
Her trustworthiness and her motives.

0:05:33.474,0:05:36.847
Now, whistle-blowing[br]doesn't always have to end

0:05:36.871,0:05:38.577
in demotions or death threats.

0:05:38.601,0:05:42.522
Actually, in 2002, this was[br]the cover of "Time" magazine,

0:05:42.546,0:05:45.879
where we were actually honoring[br]three brave whistle-blowers,

0:05:45.903,0:05:48.839
for their decision to come forward[br]in the name of the truth.

0:05:48.863,0:05:50.530
And when you look at the research,

0:05:50.554,0:05:54.117
22 percent of whistle-blowers[br]actually report retaliation.

0:05:54.141,0:05:59.605
So there is a huge population of people[br]that report and are not retaliated against

0:05:59.629,0:06:01.163
and that gives me hope.

0:06:02.264,0:06:03.542
So this is Kathe.

0:06:03.955,0:06:07.626
Kathe Swanson is a retired city clerk[br]from the city of Dixon.

0:06:08.415,0:06:12.059
And one day, Kathe was doing her job,[br]just like she always did,

0:06:12.083,0:06:15.350
and she stumbled upon[br]a pretty interesting case.

0:06:15.829,0:06:17.709
See, Kathe was at the end of the month,

0:06:17.733,0:06:20.514
and she was doing her[br]treasures report for the city,

0:06:20.538,0:06:24.578
and typically, her boss, Rita Crundwell,[br]gave her a list of accounts and said,

0:06:24.602,0:06:27.561
"Kathe, call the bank[br]and get these specific accounts."

0:06:27.585,0:06:29.260
And Kathe did her job.

0:06:29.284,0:06:31.910
But this particular day,[br]Rita was out of town

0:06:31.934,0:06:33.117
and Kathe was busy.

0:06:33.141,0:06:38.339
She picks up the phone, she calls the bank[br]and says, "Fax me all of the accounts."

0:06:38.363,0:06:41.673
And when she gets the fax,[br]she sees that there is an account

0:06:41.697,0:06:43.803
that has some withdrawals[br]and deposits in it,

0:06:43.819,0:06:45.307
that she did not know about.

0:06:45.331,0:06:48.065
It was an account controlled only by Rita.

0:06:48.641,0:06:52.680
So Kathe looked at the information,[br]she reported it to her direct supervisor,

0:06:52.704,0:06:54.760
which was then-mayor Burke,

0:06:54.784,0:06:58.539
and this led into a huge investigation,[br]a six-month investigation.

0:06:59.242,0:07:03.784
Come to find out, Kathe's boss,[br]Rita Crundwell, was embezzling money.

0:07:04.250,0:07:09.438
Rita was embezzling 53 million dollars[br]over a 20-year period,

0:07:09.462,0:07:12.128
and Kathe just happened[br]to stumble upon it.

0:07:13.120,0:07:15.509
Kathe is a hero.

0:07:16.049,0:07:17.740
And actually, I had the opportunity

0:07:17.764,0:07:21.117
of interviewing Kathe for my documentary,[br]"All the Queen's Horses."

0:07:21.141,0:07:23.498
And Kathe wasn't seeking fame.

0:07:23.522,0:07:26.990
In fact, she really didn't want[br]to talk to me for a really long time,

0:07:27.014,0:07:30.094
but through strategic stalking,[br]she ended up doing the interview.

0:07:30.118,0:07:31.270
(Laughter)

0:07:31.294,0:07:33.514
But she was seeking fairness, not fame.

0:07:33.538,0:07:35.125
And if it wasn't for Kathe,

0:07:35.149,0:07:38.046
who's to say this fraud[br]would have ever been discovered?

0:07:39.133,0:07:41.720
So, remember that Forbes article[br]I was talking about,

0:07:41.744,0:07:43.673
that I was working on before my lecture?

0:07:43.697,0:07:46.870
Well, I posted it and something[br]really fantastic happened.

0:07:47.292,0:07:51.370
I started receiving emails[br]from whistle-blowers all over the world.

0:07:51.982,0:07:55.593
And as I was receiving these emails[br]and responding back to them,

0:07:55.617,0:07:58.276
there was a common theme[br]in the message that I received,

0:07:58.300,0:07:59.506
and this is what it was:

0:07:59.530,0:08:03.456
they all said this, "I blew the whistle,[br]people really hate me now.

0:08:03.928,0:08:05.795
I got fired, but guess what?

0:08:06.134,0:08:08.801
I would do it all over again if I could."

0:08:09.515,0:08:12.728
And so as I kept reading this message,[br]all these messages,

0:08:12.752,0:08:15.577
I wanted to think, what could I[br]share with my students?

0:08:15.601,0:08:18.712
And so, I pooled it all together[br]and this is what I learned.

0:08:19.204,0:08:21.871
It's important for us to cultivate hope.

0:08:22.300,0:08:24.267
Whistle-blowers are hopeful.

0:08:24.291,0:08:25.688
Despite popular belief,

0:08:25.712,0:08:29.520
they're not all disgruntled employees[br]that have a beef with the company.

0:08:30.053,0:08:33.681
Their hopefulness really is[br]what drives them to come forward.

0:08:34.244,0:08:36.649
We also have to cultivate commitment.

0:08:36.673,0:08:38.529
Whistle-blowers are committed.

0:08:38.553,0:08:41.061
And it's that passion[br]to their organization

0:08:41.085,0:08:43.116
that makes them want to come forward.

0:08:43.506,0:08:45.124
Whistle-blowers are humble.

0:08:45.148,0:08:48.918
Again, they're not seeking fame,[br]but they are seeking fairness.

0:08:49.228,0:08:52.085
And we need to continue[br]to cultivate bravery.

0:08:52.109,0:08:53.712
Whistle-blowers are brave.

0:08:53.736,0:08:57.410
Often, they underestimated

0:08:57.434,0:09:00.069
the impact whistle-blowing[br]had on their family,

0:09:00.093,0:09:05.008
but what they contain to comment on[br]is how hard it is to withhold the truth.

0:09:05.977,0:09:08.795
With that, I want to leave you[br]with one additional name:

0:09:08.819,0:09:10.135
Peter Buxtun.

0:09:11.168,0:09:16.869
Peter Buxtun was a 27-year-old[br]employee for the US Public Health Service.

0:09:17.359,0:09:21.299
And he was hired to interview people

0:09:21.323,0:09:23.701
that had sexually transmitted diseases.

0:09:23.725,0:09:27.249
And through the course of his work,[br]he noticed a clinical study

0:09:27.273,0:09:29.344
that was going on within the organization.

0:09:29.773,0:09:33.439
And it was a study that was looking[br]at the progression of untreated syphilis.

0:09:33.868,0:09:36.649
And so, there were[br]600 African American males

0:09:36.673,0:09:37.839
that were in this study,

0:09:37.863,0:09:40.871
they were enticed into the study[br]through being given

0:09:40.895,0:09:43.474
free medical exams, burial insurance.

0:09:43.498,0:09:47.156
And so, what happened[br]through the course of this study,

0:09:47.180,0:09:51.576
is penicillin was discovered[br]to help treat syphilis.

0:09:52.100,0:09:54.050
And what Peter noticed was,

0:09:54.074,0:09:58.022
the participants in this study[br]were not given the penicillin

0:09:58.046,0:09:59.537
to treat their syphilis.

0:09:59.561,0:10:01.363
And the participants didn't know.

0:10:01.387,0:10:06.587
So similar to Mary, Peter tried to report[br]and talk to his internal supervisors,

0:10:06.611,0:10:07.912
but no one listened.

0:10:08.341,0:10:10.778
And so Peter thought[br]this was completely unfair,

0:10:10.802,0:10:12.395
and he tried to report again,

0:10:12.419,0:10:15.585
and finally talked to a reporter --[br]very similar to Mary.

0:10:16.069,0:10:20.379
And in 1972, this was the front page[br]of The New York Times:

0:10:20.403,0:10:24.489
"Syphilis Victims in US Study[br]Went Untreated for 40 Years."

0:10:25.625,0:10:30.069
This is known to us today[br]as the Tuskegee syphilis experiment.

0:10:30.093,0:10:32.315
And Peter was the whistle-blower.

0:10:32.339,0:10:35.797
What happened to the 600 men,[br]you may wonder, the 600 original men?

0:10:36.395,0:10:38.795
Twenty eight men dies from syphilis.

0:10:39.387,0:10:42.522
One hundred died[br]from syphilis complications,

0:10:42.546,0:10:44.418
forty wives were infected

0:10:44.442,0:10:47.279
and 10 children were born[br]with congenital syphilis.

0:10:47.303,0:10:49.644
Who's to say what these numbers would be

0:10:49.668,0:10:53.083
if it wasn't for the brave,[br]courageous act of Peter?

0:10:53.819,0:10:56.291
We're all connected to Peter, actually.

0:10:56.315,0:10:58.903
If you know anybody[br]that's in a clinical trial,

0:10:58.927,0:11:02.077
the reason why we have[br]informed consent today

0:11:02.101,0:11:04.236
is because of Peter's courageous act.

0:11:05.401,0:11:06.830
So let me ask you a question.

0:11:06.854,0:11:09.727
That original question,[br]a variation of the original question.

0:11:09.751,0:11:12.846
How many of us have ever used the term

0:11:12.870,0:11:15.839
snitch, rat

0:11:15.863,0:11:17.458
tattletale,

0:11:17.482,0:11:19.133
snake,

0:11:19.157,0:11:20.641
weasel,

0:11:20.665,0:11:21.815
leak?

0:11:22.919,0:11:24.069
Anybody?

0:11:27.680,0:11:30.715
Before you get the urge to do that again,

0:11:30.739,0:11:32.524
I want you to think a little bit.

0:11:32.548,0:11:36.458
It might be the Mary,[br]the Peter, the Kathys of the world.

0:11:37.493,0:11:40.397
You might be the person[br]that could shape history,

0:11:40.421,0:11:42.968
or they could be the person[br]that shapes yours.

0:11:42.992,0:11:44.173
Thank you.

0:11:44.197,0:11:47.668
(Applause)