Whistleblower Retaliation

A whistleblower is an employee who reports their employer for violations of state or federal law. Many times, a whistleblower is the David going up against the Goliath. Whistleblowers put themselves and their reputations on the line in order to expose the illegal activities of their employees, illegal activities which often times places people at risk of harm. Fortunately, whistleblowers are protected under Federal and State law.

• You get fired because you reported your employer for a violation to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
• An employee reports safety violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to her employer numerous times and threatens to report these violations if things are not changed. Subsequently, the employee is fired immediately after threatening to report her employer.
• A worker fails to meet their employer’s request to falsify tax records so that the employer can avoid tax penalties. After refusing to do such acts, the employer fires the employee.
• Hardworking employee gets fired because they report illegal drug use.
• A worker gets fired because he or she reports some other violation of law.

What are my rights as a whistleblower under Federal law? The  federal government enacted the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 to protect federal  whistleblowers who work for the government and report possible violations of:

• Law
• Rules
• Regulations
• Mismanagement
• Gross waste of funds
• Abuse of authority
• A substantial and specific danger to public health and safety

If a federal agency takes retaliatory personnel action against any employee or applicant because of disclosure of the violation, the federal agency may be liable for damages. Federal law also provides protection for persons who report that the government has been defrauded.

The False Claims Act, also known as the “Lincoln Law” allows individuals who are not associated with the government to file lawsuits on behalf of the government. These Qui Tam laws allow these whistleblowers to recover anywhere between 15-25 percent of the damages incurred as a result of defrauding the government. Since 1983 the federal government has received almost $40,000,000,000 in damages as a result of the false claims act.