Federal Employees
If you are a federal employee suffering whistleblowing retaliation and want to know your rights, contact us. Our attorneys are committed to giving you the information and tools you need to choose the right path for your case, to maximize your leverage as you try to save your job and career, and to persuasively present your case to the right federal authorities to preserve and protect your rights. During an initial consultation, we can evaluate whether you may have a whistleblowing retaliation claim. We can advise you how to pursue your claim, identify deadlines, and represent you in the appropriate procedure.
Sarbanes-Oxley & SEC Whistleblowing
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, also known as SOX, protects whistleblowers who provide information about securities fraud, shareholder fraud, bank fraud, violations of SEC rules or regulations, mail fraud, or wire fraud. Specifically, the law covers whistleblowing that seeks to reveal a violation of law that would negatively impact shareholders or investors.
It is illegal for an employer to retaliate against an employee who discloses fraud under SOX. If we can prove a connection between your whistleblowing and a personnel action, you may be entitled to relief. Relief includes restoration or reinstatement to a prior job; back pay with benefits and interest; recoupment of other losses, such as used leave and medical costs; and attorney fees. In some cases, you may also recover for damages such as emotional harm, loss of reputation, or personal humiliation.
An individual must first pursue a SOX whistleblowing retaliation claim through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) program.
If you think you have suffered illegal SOX retaliation and want to know your rights, contact us. We are committed to giving you information and tools to choose the right path for your case, to maximize your leverage as you try to save your job and career, and to persuasively present your case to the right federal authorities to preserve and protect your rights. During an initial consultation, we can evaluate whether you may have a whistleblowing retaliation claim. During a consultation, we will advise you how to pursue your claim, identify deadlines, and discuss options for legal representation.
Federal Government Contractors
The 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) protects employees of government contractors from reprisal or retaliation for whistleblowing, exposing the employer’s wrongdoing. The False Claims Act (FCA) gives similar protections and, in addition, encourages whistleblowing by rewarding individuals who report fraud against the government with bounties or finders’ fees, called qui tam or relator claims.
The NDAA and FCA provide similar protections for individuals and both require that you file your claim within three (3) years. These laws are designed to prevent and remedy retaliation for whistleblowing about government procurement contracts for both the military and federal executive agencies. The FCA is limited to fraud against the government and fraudulent billing practices. The NDAA broadens those whistleblower protections to other kinds of whistleblowing, including:
- Gross mismanagement of a federal contract or grant,
- Gross mismanagement of federal funds,
- Gross waste of federal funds,
- An abuse of authority relating to a federal contract or grant,
- A violation of law, rule or regulation relating to a federal contract (including the competition for or negotiation of a contract) or grant,
- A substantial and specific danger to public health or safety
Disclosures may be protected when made to the following bodies or persons:
- The contractor or subcontractor, specifically to someone who has the responsibility to investigate, discover, or address misconduct;
- Congress;
- An Inspector General;
- The Government Accountability Office;
- An employee of DoD or NASA (as applicable) responsible for contract oversight or management;
- An authorized official of the department of Justice or other law enforcement agency;
- A court or grand jury; or,
- In a judicial or administrative proceeding relating to waste fraud or abuse.
If you think you might have a claim under the FCA or the NDAA, contact us to learn more about your rights.
Equal Employment Opportunity Retaliation
There are also laws that protect employees from reprisal for engaging in other types of activities, such as disclosing illegal practices, violations of the law, or gross mismanagement. For more information, please see our section on whistleblower reprisal.
The Occupational Safety and Health Whistleblowers Laws
There are more than twenty laws administered by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that protect employees who blow the whistle and report violations of workplace and public safety laws. These laws make it illegal for a company to take an adverse action against an employee who makes a protected disclosure about workplace or public safety. This means that employers cannot retaliate against a whistleblower by firing, blacklisting, demoting, denying overtime, denying promotion, denying benefits, or disciplining, intimidating or threatening them.
The laws cover many workplace safety concerns, including:
- Asbestos
- Cargo Containers
- Trucking
- Drinking Water
- Clean Water
- Toxic Substances & Chemicals
- Solid Waste
- Clean Air
- Hazardous Waste & Pollutants
- Nuclear Energy & Waste
- Airlines & Aviation Safety
- SOX –Publicly Traded Companies; Fraud; SEC
- Pipelines
- Railroads
- Public Transportation
- Consumer Products
- Affordable Care Act
- Maritime Safety
- Consumer Financial Products or Services
- Food Manufacturers
- Motor Vehicle Safety
- Violence in the Workplace
If you think you have suffered illegal retaliation and want to know your rights, contact us. We are committed to giving you information and tools to choose the right path for your case, to maximize your leverage as you try to save your job and career, and to persuasively present your case to the right federal authorities to preserve and protect your rights. During an initial consultation we can evaluate whether you may have a whistleblowing retaliation claim, how to pursue your claim, identify deadlines, and discuss options for legal representation.
D.C. Government Whistleblowing Rights
The DC whistleblower protections apply to all District government agencies, including independent agencies, DC Public Schools, the University of D.C. Board of Trustees and the DC Housing Authority.
The DC Whistleblower Protection Act is designed to protect employees of the District government who “report waste, fraud, abuse of authority, violations of law, or threats to public health or safety” from retaliation and reprisal. DC Official Code § 1-615.51 et seq. In fact, the law requires DC employees to disclose violations concerning misuse of resources, fraud, waste, abuse of authority or a substantial and specific danger to the public health and safety. Supervisors are also required to make disclosures and failure to make the disclosure could subject the supervisor to discipline.
The law protects people who disclose wrongdoing by prohibiting a supervisor from taking or threatening to take an action against an employee because of the employee’s protected disclosure or because the employee refused to comply with an illegal order. The law also prohibits retaliatory procurement actions against contractors seeking to do business with the DC government.
There are several ways an employee might be able to file a complaint under DC’s whistleblower protection law. If the DC agency took a negative action that can be appealed through the DC Office of Employee Appeals, the employee can usually raise their whistleblower claim in their appeal of the underlying action to OEA. Similarly, the employee might be able to file under a union agreement, if the agreement provides protections for whistleblowing reprisal. Finally, the employee can probably also file a complaint in D.C. Superior Court. Each of these options involves different deadlines.
It’s important for an employee to know each option they might have, and the benefits, risks and costs of each option before choosing one. If the employee chooses to file under one option, they likely can’t file under another – so it’s important to make a wise choice. What’s best for one person might not be the right approach for someone else. If you think you’ve been a victim of whistleblowing reprisal, talk with one of our lawyers to learn your options and which might be best for you under your circumstances.
The DC whistleblowing protections apply to all District government agencies, including independent agencies, DC Public Schools, the University of D.C. Board of Trustees and the DC Housing Authority.
The DC whistleblowing protection law is designed to protect employees of the District government who “report waste, fraud, abuse of authority, violations of law, or threats to public health or safety” from retaliation and reprisal. DC Official Code § 1-615.51 et seq. The law requires DC employees to disclose violations concerning misuse of resources, fraud, waste, abuse of authority or a substantial and specific danger to the public health and safety. Supervisors are also required to make disclosures and failure to make the disclosure could subject the supervisor to discipline.
The law protects people who disclose wrongdoing by prohibiting a supervisor from taking or threatening to take an action against an employee because of the employee’s protected disclosure or because the employee refused to comply with an illegal order. The law also prohibits retaliatory procurement actions against contractors seeking to do business with the DC government.
There are several ways an employee might be able to file a complaint under the DC whistleblower protection law. If the DC agency took a negative action that can be appealed through the DC Office of Employee Appeals, the employee can usually file their whistleblower claim when they file their OEA appeal. Similarly, the employee might be able to file under a union agreement, if the agreement provides protections for whistleblowing reprisal. The employee can probably also file a complaint in court. Each of these options involves different deadlines.
It’s important for an employee to know each option they might have, and the benefits, risks and costs of each option before choosing one. If the employee chooses to file under one option, they likely can’t file under another – so it’s important to make a wise choice. What’s best for one person might not be the right approach for someone else. If you think you’ve been a victim of whistleblowing reprisal, talk with one of our lawyers to learn your options and which might be best for you under your circumstances.
Virginia State Employee Whistleblowing Rights
The Virginia State grievance procedure offers protections for employees who are subjected to adverse personnel actions because of their whistleblowing activities. The procedure says that a personnel decision, such as termination or suspension without pay, cannot be based on “acts of retaliation for participating in the grievance process, complying with any law or reporting a violation of such law to a governmental authority, seeking to change any law before Congress or the General Assembly, reporting an incidence of fraud, abuse, or gross mismanagement, or exercising any right otherwise protected by law.” Virginia Code § 2.2-3003. The employee has to file a grievance under the Virginia State grievance process within 30 days.
To learn more about the Virginia State Grievance Process, see here .