Whistleblowers or Offenders? A Judicial Approach to Whistleblowing – The LuxLeaks Case

Oussama Ouriemmi; Wafa  Ben Khaled; Mahaut  Fanchini

doi:10.37725/mgmt.v24.5449

Oussama Ouriemmi ISG Paris, Paris, France
Wafa Ben Khaled University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
Mahaut Fanchini IRG, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Créteil, France

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37725/mgmt.v24.5449

Keywords: Whistleblower, Whistleblowing, Retaliation, Judge, Judicialisation, Normativity, Ethics

Abstract

The aim of this article is to study the role of judges and their impact on the retaliation processes initiated by organisations against whistleblowers. More specifically, we question the normative logics used by judges to validate or invalidate such processes. To this end, we cross-check and analyse judicial data from the LuxLeaks case (2010–2018). Our results firstly enable us to establish a relationship between, on the one hand, the interpretative power of judges and their profile and, on the other, the attitude that judges may have at the end of the retaliation process towards whistleblowers, that is, retaliatory actors or protective actors. Our results also explain the normative dynamics that permeate the judicial retaliation process. They show that judges can challenge existing legal norms, clarify and operationalise others, and create new norms regulating ethical behaviour in organisations.

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