George Geary was a sales representative at U. S. Steel Corp. The company had a written code of ethics that outlined examples of ethical and unethical behavior. The code specifically dealt with fraudulent accounting. Geary, who did not have a strong background in accounting, believed that a friend of his was engaging in accounting fraud. Geary thought through the consequences to himself, his friend, and his company of reporting his suspicions and, alternatively, not reporting. Determining that more harm would occur if he did not report, Geary called the company's toll-free phone number for employees to confidentially report illegal or unethical conduct. The company investigated and concluded that no accounting fraud had occurred. Geary: