The 2001 Enron Corporate Responsibility Annual Report contains this statement:
Enron employees . are trained to report without retribution anything they observe or discover that indicates our standards are not being met.
In December 2001, using company equipment on company premises, an Enron employee posted a comment on an Internet message board revealing that Enron had paid $55 million in bonuses to its top people just before it filed for bankruptcy and laid off 4,000 workers. The employee who wrote this was fired. What ethical issues arise in this situation? Enron’s headquarters are in Houston. In Texas, wrongful discharge claims succeed only when an employee has refused to perform an illegal act, so if this whistleblower sues, he would lose. What would be the legal result in Maryland? In New Jersey? In Montana?