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Comment by LoSboccacc | Hacker News Reader

Not a chance unless clear whistleblower laws emerge providing strong incentives coupled with extreme protections

There is already such incentives for companies defrauding the government [1] :

"Qui tam" where the whistleblower can receive "between 15% and 25% of any award or settlement amount" on cases like this seems to be a pretty huge incentive.

Look at the "Example" section in [1]:

      - 2009 :  
    [...] was awarded $51.5 million for his role as a whistleblower 
    102 million that was distributed between the six whistleblowers 
    [...] whistleblower was awarded 18% of the $253 million civil settlement
      - 2012 : 
    was entitled to $3.6 million of the settlement

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qui_tam#United_States

seems little for a lifetime of unemployment

For comparison, average lifetime earnings in the US for someone with a degree are $1.8 million.

Are you kidding? $3.6 million is enough to retire and live comfortably for the rest of your life.

You think money is all that is for a comfortable life?

Of course not, but "having a job" isn't on that list. There's a whole world of hobbies, movies, books, people, and conversations that you'd be free to explore to your heart's content. If you want to build things, go right ahead, on your own terms and whenever you feel like it. Why on earth would you miss being required to sit in an office 40 hours a week?

If you stick $3.6m in a mutual fund and assume 5% returns, (which is extremely conservative) you'll maintain $180k indefinitely. Unless you waste it all on hookers, blow, and Lamborghinis you'll live pretty comfortably for life.

Why would you be unwilling to hire someone who's demonstrated that they're an ethical person?

why is it suddenly about me? I would. but statistically speaking, hr hiring and firing patterns do penalize any behavior that would get a company into legal trouble.

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