Is whistleblowing ethical?

Is whistleblowing ethical?
The above article is about a wrongful termination of one of the research assistants working in the Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Department. Robert McGee, 54, filed the suit against the University Board of Regents after he was terminated from his job as a research assistant. He was fired because he reported safety violations in the laboratory. McGee said he saw Assistant Prof. Michael Hartman, who led the project, engage in various safety protocol violations, including dumping dangerous chemicals down a drain and entering another lab without proper access. McGee said Hartman also put him in a dangerous situation in which he could have been exposed to the highly radioactive isotope Cesium-137.
The main issue in this article is whether or not it is ethical to fire a loyal worker for whistle blowing. I think it is morally wrong to terminate someone from the job just because McGee noticed that there was something wrong.
Some say that whistleblowers are noble characters, willing to sacrifice personally and professionally to expose organizational practices that are wasteful, fraudulent, or harmful to the public safety. Others suggest that whistleblowers are, by and large, disgruntled employees who maliciously and recklessly accuse individuals they feel have wronged them in order to attain their own selfish goals. Whatever your personal view of whistleblowers and whistle blowing, as an organizational policy-maker you must consider the issue objectively. It is not an issue that can be ignored, due to the possible negative consequences for both your employees and your organization.