Whistleblower Act

A whistleblower is someone who expresses concern related to an ongoing practice, generally within an organization. As a rule, this person is part of that group, and the misconduct that is highlighted may be categorized as violation of an existing law, regulation, or law, gross mismanagement, abuse of authority, waste of funds, or some type of direct threat to the public’s welfare.

What Whistleblowers Do

Whistleblower accusations and complaints may be expressed internally (for example, to someone who has authority within that organization) or externally (to a law enforcement agency, federal or state regulators, the media, or an activist group). Whistleblowers often have to deal with the repercussions that follow for taking action, and they may come from the organization being accused, a related group, or under the law—which explains the need for protective legislation.

The Whistleblower Act

Passed in 1989, the Whistleblower Protection Act shields any employee of the federal government when reporting agency misconduct. The agency in question will be in violation of the act if takes, threatens to take, or avoids taking action in regard to the whistleblower’s job or promotion.

Implementation of this law led to the creation of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), which has the duty to investigate complaints from whistleblowers that they have suffered reprisals after reporting fraud, waste, or other abuse within their agencies. This applies to anyone who is employed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Taking Legal Action

The federal government loses huge sums of money on a yearly basis because certain businesses and organizations violate the law. If you feel that misconduct or fraud has been committed, legal options may be available to compensate for the loss, and in the past few years, billions of dollars have been saved through whistleblower litigation. If you file a whistleblower claim against the entity that has violated the law, your compensation may be as much as 25 percent of the total amount recovered.

Lawyers who deal with whistleblower claims are well aware that their clients may be reluctant to attend a trial or file a lawsuit because this kind of case can be truly overwhelming. That is why these attorneys are prepared to handle such cases and work to bring them to a successful conclusion on their behalf.