Remember Enron? I know, some of you weren’t born in 2001, but it was a big deal back then. Here’s the story in a nutshell. Enron Corporation was a Houston energy company, formed in 1985. Through a number of tax loopholes and questionable accounting, Enron was able to hide billions of dollars in debt from its shareholders. When the stuff hit the fan, Enron’s stock plummeted from a mid-2000 high of $90.75 a share to less than $1.00 per share in November 2001. Lawsuits followed, and some Enron executives actually went to jail. Shareholders literally lost billions of dollars, and their accounting firm, Arthur Anderson, essentially dissolved. Who knows how many lives were changed forever – some went to jail, but hundreds of innocent people lost their jobs and their savings.If only someone on the inside had blown the whistle sooner.Around the same time, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, right here in Missouri, was preparing an “initial public offering” – an “IPO.” Thomas Dunn started as an accountant for Enterprise, and eventually became the company’s comptroller. Among other things, it was his job to certify that the company was following appropriate accounting procedures – something investors in an IPO think is pretty darned important. You can read the entire story in the Missouri Appellate Court opinion, Dunn v. Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company, 170 S.W.3d 1 (Mo. App. E.D. 2005), but the short version is that Dunn was the whistleblower that Enron needed. He warned the Enterprise executives about the deficient accounting practices, and told them the Securities and Exchange Commission would require different reporting. This caused a delay in the IPO, and the company's officers were not happy. Dunn was fired on January 4, 2001.Dunn sued, and a jury awarded him $4,000,000.00. Enterprise never forgot.Ever since, big money in Missouri has tried to protect corporations like Enterprise from whistleblowers.That’s right – corporations like Enron and Enterprise don’t want people to know when they cheat.Among many other problems with SB 43 (see my earlier blogs), the bill eliminates all protection for people whose very job it is to report when their employer has broken the law. In a special section of the bill – ironically titled the “Whistleblower’s Protection Act” – big corporate interests have finally gotten what they paid for. An employee has no protection if the “unlawful act or serious misconduct reported concerns matters upon which the employee is employed to report or provide professional opinion.” In other words, if it is their job – as it was Dunn’s job at Enterprise – to report accounting fraud, and he reports it, he has no protection. Heroes like Dunn are supposed to keep their heads down and their mouths shut, if they know what’s good for them.SB 43 has passed in the Missouri Senate, but it still must be passed in the House. Is this what we want in Missouri? Big corporations buying laws that allow them to cheat? Call your representatives and let them know how you feel!
