Is one of your employees an informant for the Department of Justice? Does that chill internal discussion or cramp operations?
“‘Flipped’ Bankers Aid Forex Probe,” Wall Street Journal, September 15, 2014 C1. Rumors of “flipped” employees, who are acting as informants while still working for the target banks.
Were I a skeptical type, I might say that spreading the rumors of the existence of such informants might be part of the government’s compliance strategy. So, too, might actually having the informants. But if you’re about to enter settlement negotiations (as is the case here), might rumors be enough?
To assist its own compliance initiative, a company might mention the possibility of such informants to keep people in compliance. Or might actually place informants in sensitive roles.
What would this do to the culture of compliance at the company? What impact on the free flow of information within the company? What impact on trust and job satisfaction? Is a rumor information that the company wants to (or needs to) manage or control? How? If the employee has a contractual obligation to keep company information confidential, can the government do this?
