Whistleblowers have very delicate positions in the industry. You may have seen it again recently with this case revealed by our colleagues from the World on a whistleblower at EDF, but it is necessarily very complicated to unveil scandals that are supposed to remain secret and known only to certain people. well placed in the company.
In the United States, an ex-employee of Hyundai had precisely alerted to “shortcomings” in the development and manufacture of Theta II gasoline engines (four-cylinder gasoline 2.0) at Hyundai, which were found in particular on Tucson, Ceed American but also Kia Sportage / Optima. Several cases of spontaneous fires had been identified by Hyundai, which had recalled a million and a half vehicles, without however providing “crucial” information to the NHTSA, the body in charge of road safety.
The same NHTSA fined Hyundai and Kia $ 210 million. Part of this amount will be donated to the whistleblower: $ 24 million! A real breakthrough for these people who are sometimes threatened by their business, and who sometimes hesitate to take the plunge. This case, which could set a precedent, should now give thought to groups that do not provide all the essential information to NHTSA in the event of serious problems.
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