Whistleblower Law Blog
STAA Protections Help Trucker Fired for Leaving Dangerous Conditions
September 8, 2016
On August 8, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals decided TransAm Trucking Inc. v. Administrative Review Board, Department of Labor. The Court ruled 2-1 in favor of the whistleblower – a truck driver for TransAm Trucking named Alphonse Maddin – with Judge Michael Murphy writing for the majority and Judge Neil Gorsuch dissenting....
What Federal Whistleblowers Need to Know about the Insider Threat Program
August 30, 2016
Whistleblowers serve a critical function in our society. They are inside watchdogs who expose wrongdoing at their place of employment, most times at great personal risk to their jobs. Acknowledging the important, yet risky, role that whistleblowers play in policing the workforce, the law has historically afforded whistleblowers...
Want to Win Your Whistleblower Claim? Learn How to Legally Gather Evidence
August 23, 2016
When employees want to report on suspected law breaking or misconduct, gathering evidence to become a whistleblower brings with it many legal pitfalls. Some forms of evidence gathering are not only allowed but are considered protected activity for an employee – that is, an employer cannot take any negative employment action (...
Farming Industry Uses Ag-Gag Laws to Silence Whistleblowers
August 18, 2016
Factory farms produce the vast majority of meat, dairy and eggs we consume in the United States. Large food producers use breeding strategies and economies of scale to produce food at low cost and high profits.
To maximize profits and fill the enormous demand for cheap food, large agricultural companies have resorted to cruel...
SOX Whistleblower Case Strengthens Protections for Workers
August 16, 2016
In March 2016, the Department of Labor Administrative Review Board (ARB) established an important precedent on the broad scope of protected whistleblowing under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and also clarified its standards to better serve SOX whistleblowers who faced retaliation.
As has been discussed in the legal press, the...
FRSA Whistleblower Wins $1.6M Jury Award
August 8, 2016
In May 2016, a jury trial resulted in a $1.6 million verdict for a Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA) whistleblower. Under the FRSA, whistleblowers need only show that their protected activity was a contributing factor to the termination decision. The whistleblower’s burden under the FRSA is lower than in many other...
[Video] If You Report a Cybersecurity Issue, Are You Protected Under Whistleblower Law?
August 4, 2016
Cybersecurity is an increasingly important field of whistleblower law. In recent years, lack of awareness among top business leaders has facilitated a number of hacks and data breaches. In today’s data-driven work environment, strong cybersecurity policies and practices are essential to data security. By failing to protect even...
How Does Causation Factor into a Whistleblower Claim?
August 2, 2016
In whistleblower cases, the employee’s protected activity usually consists of clear and tangible conduct. Disputes about this element of the claim depend on whether the employee reasonably believed she was objecting to unlawful conduct and expressed that opposition clearly enough. Similarly, the adverse action element is...
How Does the Amended FCA Alter the Scope of Whistleblower Protections?
July 27, 2016
A defense contractor fired an employee after he complained about overbilling of the government. The employee’s counsel knows that numerous anti-retaliation protections may apply, with the False Claims Act (FCA) and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) being two strong candidates. But which should they assert? A recent...
SCOTUS Ruling May Increase FCA Whistleblower Claims
July 26, 2016
The Supreme Court in a recent decision has potentially increased the number of claims available to whistleblowers under the False Claims Act (FCA). The decision in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar resolved a dispute among lower courts as to whether whistleblowers can pursue claims under the “...
