AFSCME Information Highway

Source: Whistleblower Law Blog, Employment Law Group, October 3, 2008

On September 26, 2008, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a new whistleblower protection bill to extend whistleblower protections to city and county employees who report waste, fraud and abuse of government funds. The new law authorizes cities and counties to create and maintain whistleblower hotlines to receive calls from employees who have information regarding possible violations of state, federal or local statutes, rules or regulations. The new law also requires city and county auditors and controllers to maintain the confidentiality of a whistleblower's identity throughout the investigation process. To read the bill, click here.

Posted by Info Center at 4:58 PM in Labor Laws/Legislation | Local Government | Whistleblowing | Permalink

Source: Thomas Devine and Tarek Maassarani Government Accountability Project, September 2008

From the press release:
Today, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) released Running the Gauntlet: The Campaign for Credible Corporate Whistleblower Rights. This report surveys the dangerous landscape of corporate whistleblower laws, and recommends strategies for corporate whistleblowers to best protect themselves from future retaliation.

Since the last election, Congress has passed best practices laws for specific corporate whistleblowers, including ground transportation workers, defense contractors, and an estimated twenty million employees connected with the manufacture or sale of 15,000 retail products.

Devine continued, "While time, and judges, will tell if these newfound protections hold, this is a defining moment for the future of corporate accountability. This report lays out strategies for all corporate whistleblowers, until that day when protections are standardized, comprehensive and strong. This report serves as a life-ring for employees stuck in the current sea of unknown protections."

Posted by Info Center at 3:22 PM in Whistleblowing | Permalink

Source: David A. Drachsler, Labor Law Journal, Vol. 59 no. 2, Summer 2008

How have public employee whistleblowers fared since Garcetti, and has Garcetti improved or been harmful to honest and open public administration?

Posted by Info Center at 2:48 PM in Laws/Legislation | Public Sector | Whistleblowing | Permalink

Source: Whistleblower Law Blog, Employment Law Group, August 1, 2008

Yesterday Congress enacted a new whistleblower law to protect public and private sector employees in the manufacturing and retail industries who disclose information to an employer, a regulatory agency, or a State Attorney General about a reasonably perceived violation of the Consumer Product Safety Commission Act ("CPSCA") or any act enforced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The law also protects an employee's good faith refusal to violate the CPSCA.

Under this new whistleblower protection law, a retaliation claim must be filed with the Occupational Health and Safety Administration ("OSHA") within 180 days of the employee first becoming aware of the retaliatory action. After OSHA performs an investigation, either party can request a hearing before a Department of Labor Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") and can appeal an ALJ decision to the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board. If the Department of Labor has not issued a final decision within 210 days of the filing of the complaint, the employee may remove the complaint to federal court for a jury trial. A prevailing employee is entitled to reinstatement, back pay, compensatory damages, and litigation costs including reasonable attorney fees and expert witness fees.

Posted by Info Center at 2:50 PM in Labor Laws/Legislation | Whistleblowing | Permalink

Source: National Conference of State Legislatures, June 2008

At the request of NCSL's Legislative Research Librarians (LRL) staff section, NCSL has developed this resource of 50-state compilations covering various issues that concern state legislators and legislative staff. Here you will find a topical, alphabetical listing of legislative and statutory databases, compilations and state charts/maps.

[NOTE: Some of these tracking services are currently out of date. PLEASE NOTE THE DATE of the item you are reviewing].

Labor & Employment

•At-Will Employment
•Day Laborer Laws (statutes)
•Drugtesting in the Workplace
•State Divestment Legislation
•Equal Pay (statutes and legislation)
•Family/Medical Leave Laws (statutes)
•Living Wage (legislation)
•Medical Donar Leave Laws (statutes)
•Minimum Wage Laws (legislation and chart)
•Minors - Employment Laws (statutes)
•Non-compete Agreements (statutes)
•Overtime Laws (statutes)
•Sick Leave Laws (statutes)
•Telecommuting (statutes and legislation)
•Whistleblowers (statutes)
•Workforce Development (legislation and resources)

Posted by Info Center at 5:02 PM in Children | Compensation | Day Labor | Discrimination | Employment Practices | Employment Screening | Family & Work | Flexible Work Arrangements | Income Inequality/Gap | Labor Laws/Legislation | Leave Programs | Minimum Wage | Whistleblowing | Workforce | Permalink

Source: Tom Devine, Government Accountability Project Legal Director

This item is currently available on four PDF documents for your review and reference:

Courage Without Martyrdom Part 1
Courage Without Martyrdom Part 2
Courage Without Martyrdom Part 3
Courage Without Martyrdom Part 4

The ethical dilemmas facing government attorneys who blow the whistle are confusing and complex. On the one hand, statutes like the Whistleblower Protection Act encourage government employees, including lawyers to serve the public interest by reporting fraud, waste and abuse - but on the other hand, until recently, legal ethics rules forbade lawyers from revealing confidential information acquired during the course of representing a client, which could include the government agency for which the attorney works. An article written by GAP Homeland Security Director Jesselyn Radack provides guidance on how to stay safe when taking this potentially perilous path (note that this article was written prior to Radack joining GAP.)

Posted by Info Center at 5:41 PM in Whistleblowing | Permalink

Source: David L. Hudson Jr. and Lawrence D. Rosenthal, Legal Times, February 18, 2008

Victimized employees deserve the Supreme Court's help against retaliation on the job

Retaliation cases have become significant -- both for the workplace and for the Supreme Court. This term alone, the Court is hearing several retaliation cases -- including two with oral arguments this week -- with important consequences for victimized employees and for the effectiveness of anti-discrimination laws.

Related article:
Employer Retaliation Cases Reach U.S. Supreme Court
Source: Warren Richey, Christian Science Monitor, 02/19/2008

Posted by Info Center at 5:14 PM in Whistleblowing | Permalink

Source: Kerry Hall and Ames Alexander, Charlotte Observer, February 11, 2008

Bob Whitmore is doing what few career government employees dare -- publicly criticizing his own agency.

Whitmore, an expert in record-keeping requirements for the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said OSHA is allowing employers to vastly underreport the number of injuries and illnesses their workers suffer.

The true rate for some industries -- including poultry processors -- is likely two to three times higher than government numbers suggest, he said.

Posted by Info Center at 2:54 PM in Health & Safety | Whistleblowing | Permalink

Source: Ethics Resource Center, 2008
(Free registration required)

From press release:
With employees at all levels of government witnessing a high incidence of ethical misconduct - and with many local and state entities, particularly, failing to establish strong ethics programs - the public sector is at considerable risk of seeing major ethics scandals unfold, the Ethics Resource Center's National Government Ethics Survey (NGES) shows.

"The next Enron could occur within government," said ERC President Patricia Harned, Ph.D. "Almost one quarter of public sector employees identify their work environments as conducive to misconduct - places where there is strong pressure to compromise standards, where situations invite wrongdoing and/or employees' personal values conflict with the values espoused at work. Government - especially at the state and local levels - simply is not doing enough to address the problem."

The federal government fared slightly better when workers at all three levels were questioned about incidents of misconduct, their reporting of those actions and the existence and quality of programs to enforce ethical standards.

Posted by Info Center at 2:31 PM in Public Sector | Whistleblowing | Permalink

Source: Salon.com and the Center for Investigative Reporting

Every year, hundreds of federal workers sound the alarm about corruption, fraud or dangers to public safety that are caused or overlooked -- or even covered up -- by U.S. government agencies. These whistle-blowers are supposed to be guaranteed protection by law from retaliation for speaking out in the public's interest.

But a six-month investigation by the Center for Investigative Reporting, in collaboration with Salon, has found that federal whistle-blowers almost never receive legal protection after they take action. Instead, they often face agency managers and White House appointees intent upon silencing them rather than addressing the problems they raise. They are left fighting for their jobs in a special administrative court system, little known to the American public, that is mired in bureaucracy and vulnerable to partisan politics. The CIR/Salon investigation reveals that the whistle-blower system -- first created by Congress decades ago and proclaimed as a cornerstone of government transparency and accountability -- has in reality enabled the punishment of employees who speak out. It has had a chilling effect, dissuading others from coming forward. The investigation examined nearly 3,600 whistle-blower cases since 1994, and included dozens of interviews and a review of confidential court documents. Whistle-blowers lose their cases, the investigation shows, nearly 97 percent of the time. Most limp away from the experience with their careers, reputations and finances in tatters.

Posted by Info Center at 2:19 PM in Whistleblowing | Permalink

Source: Daniel Schulman, Mother Jones, Vol. 32 no. 3, May/June 2007

A series of court rulings, legal changes, and new security and secrecy policies have made it easier than at any time since the Nixon era to punish whistleblowers; the climate has deteriorated in recent years with the Bush administration’s emphasis plugging leaks and locking down government information.

Posted by Info Center at 5:56 PM in Whistleblowing | Permalink