Category Archives: Employee Rights
Blow Your Green Whistle to Protect the Environment
The Office of Inspector General is an independent office within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that assists the agency in accomplishing its goals more efficiently. OIG conducts audits, investigations and evaluations of EPA programs and its contractors to promote effectiveness and prevent fraud, abuse and waste. OIG is dedicated to making America cleaner and […]
For Many Whistleblowers, No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth;not going all the way, and not starting. – Buddha Gregory Hicks bravely testified before Congress about the 9/11 attacks on the American diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya. He claimed that he was punished for stating that President Obama’s administration’s response the night of […]
Is Edward Snowden a Whistleblower?
The Federation of German Scientists (VDW), the International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) and Transparency International bestowed the German Whistleblower Prize upon Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who leaked information about the NSA’s surveillance of internet and phone activity. A Quinnipiac University national poll, conducted shortly after Snowden obtained […]
Whistleblowers Are Being Locked Out of the IRS
Except for the booming payout of $104 million to UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld, most of the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Whistleblower Program‘s claims have not elicited any rewards. Senate Finance Committee Senior Member Charles Grassley insists there are numerous whistleblowers with good claims, but few are finding success at the IRS. At an […]
New OSHA Rules Coming in 2015
By taking a look at the Unified Regulatory Agenda for Fall 2014, one can see that there are various plans for OSHA and other federal agencies to institute some new guidelines heading into the New Year. OSHA in particular is expected to add three rules in 2015 that will address several items: Injury and […]
SEC’s Whistleblower Program Is Waiting to Blow a Big Payout
Stephen Cohen, associate director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of the Whistleblower, spent the early part of the summer blowing his commission’s whistle and promising big awards on the horizon. However, in its first three years, the SEC has made only two awards. In the first, the whistleblower received $50,000, 30 […]
National Defense Contractors’ Employees Now Have a Whistle
The 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), effective July 1, 2013, now offers employees of subcontractors with defense contracts the protection of the federal whistleblowing laws. Before the new law, subcontractors could only take their complaints of fraud or government waste to their bosses and not to a government office. Enhancing whistleblower protection for subcontractor […]
Whistleblower from 2005 Wins His Job Back
Scott Teutscher worked for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Association (RSA) from 1999 until he was dismissed in 2005. Beginning in 2002, the Riverside Sheriff’s Association Legal Defense Trust covered the legal costs for Duane Winchell, a deputy sheriff, in a domestic relations proceeding. These legal expenses were outside of the trust document. Teutscher blew the […]
Whistleblowers Are Taking Their Case to the U.S. Supreme Court
Jackie Lawson and Jonathan Zang believe that the 1st Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals misinterpreted the law. They appealed the court’s decision in Lawson v. FMR LLC and filed a brief with the Supreme Court arguing that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s whistleblower provision was misread, resulting in the conclusion that the anti-retaliation protections do not reach […]
Texas Whistleblower Act Has Jurisdiction
A state employee sent an email to a superior declaring that if a particular contract were not honored, then the entire department would not be complying with federal regulation. After being fired, the employee sued under the Texas Whistleblower Act (TWA) and attached a copy of the email. The Texas Supreme Court dismissed the complaint […]
