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VW Emissions Scandal & Speaking Out

Jason Wong
A VW engineer has been sentenced to jail for his part in the scandal...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41053740


Although the court recognised that he was not the mastermind behind it they cited his failure to speak out as one of the reasons for imposing a harsher sentence. By my reckoning, if they are going to give this engineer a harsh sentence then a large number of other engineers and managers are also up for some significant jail time (don't forget VW are not the only car maker caught out by this). Don't forget that within just a single design/project team:
  • The initial requirements specification would have been signed off by multiple people.

  • The code would have likely been authored by more than one engineer.

  • The architecture and code would have been reviewed thoroughly and signed off by others who did not design or code it.

  • There would have been a final engineering sign off by the chief engineer and/or the technical director prior to release for production.

  • That is quite a number of people who could have spoken out but didn't (or they didn't do their jobs properly when reviewing and signing off)



My question is how many engineers (or non-engineers) wokring within a company have the confidence to speak out against something they feel is wrong or unethical without fear of retribution or even constructive dismissal?


I have so far only come across one employer (not directly automotive industry) that clearly has some explicit policies in place to encourage their people to feel that they can speak out and where retribution against an employee in any form is treated very seriously and could lead to dismissal. Clearly the emissions scandal is a wake up call for the automotive industry to change the way their companies operate. However, there is an opportunity for all companies with an engineering function to learn from this.


We all know that as engineers we have a duty to operate in an ethical manner but are we supported enough by engineering institutions globally to do that? What role can the engineering institutions and government play in helping to make it easier for engineers to speak up? Legal and government representation if an engineer is treated unfairly or even dismissed as a result of speaking out? What other tools could be made available to engineers by the engineering institutions (IET, Engineering Council, Royal Academy of Engineering, etc) to help them speak out more confidently without fear of retribution from their employer or line management?


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    In response to Peter's post... No I am not suggesting that the IET and other professional bodies deal with all grievances between employer and employee. I would hope that responsible employers would have appropriate internal processes to deal with general grievances.  However, having said that the IET and volunteer members could potentially act as independent arbitrators in cases where an employer's processes have failed to get a result that all parties would accept. Is that a function that IET members may value?


    The point of my original post was to ask if there was support for engineers to help them do the right thing more easily / confidently if they find themselves in business situations that are ethically wrong, against the public interest, or even worse has the potential to compromise the safety of either other employees, the consumer, or the general public.


    I have found the following on the IET website:
    http://www.theiet.org/membership/career/ethics/whistleblowing-members.cfm


    It says that the IET has limited scope to support members who may decide to speak up / whistle blow. Could the IET potentially do more to provide support?


    I don't like the term 'whistleblowing' as it seems negative and kind of implies that you are betraying your employer / organisation. The opposite is true I think. By speaking up and ensuring that your employer does the 'right thing' - be that ethically or from a safety point of view - you are actually trying to protect the reputation of the employer (as well as subsequent and long term financial implications).


    Some organisations already have very good procedures in place for whistleblowing and speaking up (and anti-retaliation policies). However, I think we could do more to try and get a higher percentage of organisations operating in a similar way.


    Could the IET / ECUK / Others issue some kind of code or basic procedural suggestion for enabling ALL employees to speak up when they see something wrong. It could involve some kind of audit / confirmation that an organisation has these channels / procedures in place and then the organisation is awarded a mark or badge to say that they have suitable procedures. A bit like the 'Investors in People' award or ISO9001 certification. In fact, could such a 'speaking up' procedure / facility be written in to the ISO9001 standard as a requirement for being certified as ISO9001 compliant?


    Just some ideas.

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  • 0
    In response to Peter's post... No I am not suggesting that the IET and other professional bodies deal with all grievances between employer and employee. I would hope that responsible employers would have appropriate internal processes to deal with general grievances.  However, having said that the IET and volunteer members could potentially act as independent arbitrators in cases where an employer's processes have failed to get a result that all parties would accept. Is that a function that IET members may value?


    The point of my original post was to ask if there was support for engineers to help them do the right thing more easily / confidently if they find themselves in business situations that are ethically wrong, against the public interest, or even worse has the potential to compromise the safety of either other employees, the consumer, or the general public.


    I have found the following on the IET website:
    http://www.theiet.org/membership/career/ethics/whistleblowing-members.cfm


    It says that the IET has limited scope to support members who may decide to speak up / whistle blow. Could the IET potentially do more to provide support?


    I don't like the term 'whistleblowing' as it seems negative and kind of implies that you are betraying your employer / organisation. The opposite is true I think. By speaking up and ensuring that your employer does the 'right thing' - be that ethically or from a safety point of view - you are actually trying to protect the reputation of the employer (as well as subsequent and long term financial implications).


    Some organisations already have very good procedures in place for whistleblowing and speaking up (and anti-retaliation policies). However, I think we could do more to try and get a higher percentage of organisations operating in a similar way.


    Could the IET / ECUK / Others issue some kind of code or basic procedural suggestion for enabling ALL employees to speak up when they see something wrong. It could involve some kind of audit / confirmation that an organisation has these channels / procedures in place and then the organisation is awarded a mark or badge to say that they have suitable procedures. A bit like the 'Investors in People' award or ISO9001 certification. In fact, could such a 'speaking up' procedure / facility be written in to the ISO9001 standard as a requirement for being certified as ISO9001 compliant?


    Just some ideas.

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