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A Whistle Blower is an individual who reports illegal activities in an employment setting. Often, these individuals face severe repercussions for "Whistle Blowing" and thus the federal government and several states have enacted statutes to protect Whistle Blowers and therefore remove the disincentive to report illegal activities.
Not all employees who reveal illegal activities are considered Whistle Blowers for the purposes of federal and state Whistle Blower protection statutes. The first thing to note is that there are numerous federal and state statutes designed to protect whistleblowers, all of which have their own requirements to determine who and what is protected. For example, many statutes require that an individual acts in good faith when making the report in order to be protected, others do not. Moreover, some statutes are strict in determining what constitutes a "report," "disclosure," or "notification." Other statutes will only protect conduct reported that was of the specific type intended to be protected by the Whistle Blower statute. Thus, when determining whether you will be protected under a whistleblower statute, you must first consult the relevant state and federal statutes.
The Occupational Safety And Health Administration (OSHA) is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. OSHA enforces the Whistle Blowing protections of 17 statutes. These include The Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act of 2002, The Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002, and The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. A person filing a complaint of retaliation due to Whistle Blowing generally has 30 days to report it to an OSHA office. Retaliation generally includes: firing, blacklisting, demoting, denying overtime or promotion, disciplining, denial of benefits, intimidation, reassignment, and reducing pay or hours.
The Whistle Blower Protection Act of 1989 specifically protects government Whistle Blowers (government employees). The act is of particular importance because the United States Supreme Court has held (in Garcetti v. Ceballos) that government employees who engage in job-related speech pursuant to their official job duties are not protected under the First Amendment from employer retaliation.
Jeffrey Wigand, former vice president of research and development at Brown & Williamson, became a nationally known Whistle Blower in 1966 when he revealed that executives of cigarette companies knew that cigarettes were addictive and intentionally increased the amount of nicotine to make cigarettes even more addictive. In 1999, his story served as the basis for a move entitled "The Insider."
Sherron Watkins, former vice president of corporate development for Enron, gained national attention when she wrote her boss a seven-page letter noting that his company was nothing more than a Ponzi scheme. While Watkins was thought of nationally as a Whistle Blower, it is debatable as to whether she was in fact a Whistle Blower under the statutory definition.
Whistle Blower statutes contain complex statutory language which has been interpreted by dozens of judicial opinions. Moreover, whether or not you are protected by a Whistle Blower statute often depends on how quickly you file a claim. Thus, if you uncover illegal behavior at work, it is in your interest to contact a qualified attorney as soon as possible.
"If a handful of people are up to no good, we have to make sure the authorities have the tools to do the job."
- Alistair Darling, Chancellor, The Exchequer
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