According to published information, an unnamed Enron employee posted information on Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) stating that Enron had paid its executives US$55 million in retention bonuses just days before the company filed for bankruptcy protection on December 2nd.

A second employee, Clayton Vernon, had posted several messages in the same Yahoo! forum criticizing the company, particularly in the final month before it went under.

Employee Actions Unethical

French Caldwell, Gartner Internet knowledge management division vice president, told NewsFactor that the two employees' decision to express their frustration by sharing corporate information on an informal public forum was unethical, and that taking unethical action in response to questionable corporate behavior is not a good idea.

"There is formal recourse for whistle-blowers that can give them some protection from company backlash," Caldwell said. "Absent taking these formal steps through the SEC or law enforcement agencies, they will have no legal recourse or moral position if fired."

Giga Information Group vice president Rob Enderle told NewsFactor that part of the problem in not taking the proper legal recourse, such as informing the SEC or appropriate law enforcement bodies, is that the right information often does not get to the proper source.

"It may never get to the enforcement agencies. It may get to competitors or to people who otherwise shouldn't have [the information]. In many cases, it can be seen as insider information," Enderle said.

Enderle went on to say that pre-releasing confidential information has the potential to damage investigations already in progress by the proper agencies.

Corporate Policies Still Rule

Yankee Group senior analyst Rob Perry told NewsFactor that most, if not all, companies have policies about using their equipment and network. Given that the policies are written and presented to all employees at the time of their employment, Perry said, the issues in this case are pretty clear.

"Since we are all pretty much employed 'at will,' using the company network for anything that violates that policy can be cause for termination," Perry noted. "In general, you have no privacy from the company while at work."

"In this case, if Mr. Vernon had simply used his home equipment and Internet connection to express opinion or publicly available information, he would be in a different position," said Perry. "If he 'blew the whistle' and went to the right authorities with wrongdoing, then he might be protected in some way. But keeping your job at a bankrupt enterprise is hardly a winning outcome." (continued...)

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