Whistleblower Law

State and federal laws protect employees who “blow the whistle,” alerting authorities to potentially unlawful or unethical conduct on the part of their employers. Unfortunately, companies that are willing to break the law are not above doing so again in an effort to stifle investigations into their actionable behavior. As such, whistleblowers are at risk of being the target of unlawful retaliation in the form of demotion, harassment, or termination.

If you’re interested in doing the right thing and reporting your employer’s misconduct, or you’ve already done so, you need dedicated legal counsel to protect your rights and interests. Contact Bernabei & Kabat, PLLC, today for an initial case evaluation with a whistleblower protection attorney to learn more about what to expect when you become a whistleblower.

Why Choose an Employment Law Attorney From Bernabei & Kabat, PLLC?

Reporting an employer’s illegal or unethical conduct can have significant professional and legal consequences. As a whistleblower, you deserve to have experienced legal representation to protect your income and career. Turn to an employment law attorney at Bernabei & Kabat, PLLC, to advocate for your interests at this crucial moment because:

Our attorneys have over 75 years of combined legal experience handling employment law matters. The knowledge and insights we have developed enable us to offer clients innovative, tailored solutions no matter what challenges or complexities they may face.
We have dedicated our careers to protecting the rights and interests of workers who have experienced unlawful treatment by employers, including harassment and retaliation that violates workers’ protected statuses.
With our legal team by your side, you will never have to stand up to your employer alone. We will stand up on your behalf for a favorable resolution to your case.

How Does One Become a “Whistleblower”?

Employees may become a “whistleblower” when they report what they reasonably perceive as an employer’s unlawful, dangerous, or unethical conduct to a government body. For example, employees may become whistleblowers if they report:

Unsafe workplace conditions to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Dangerous or defective consumer goods or food products to the Consumer Protection Bureau or Food and Drug Administration
Environmental violations to the Environmental Protection Agency

An employee also may become a whistleblower if they internally report reasonably perceived unlawful or unethical conduct or expressly refuse a supervisor’s, manager’s, or employer’s instructions to engage in conduct the employee reasonably considers illegal or unethical.

Employees may qualify as whistleblowers for participating in internal or official investigations into employer conduct or as witnesses in an administrative or judicial proceeding concerning an employer’s misconduct. For example, an employee may agree to provide testimony in an SEC investigation into an employer’s suspected securities violations or serve as a witness in support of a co-worker’s discrimination lawsuit.

Legal Protections for Whistleblowers

Various federal statutes prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who engage in protected whistleblowing activity under federal law. Retaliatory employer conduct may include:

Refusing promotions, pay raises, or bonuses
Denying career advancement opportunities or training
Excluding whistleblowers from meetings or workplace activities
Assigning whistleblowers to unfavorable work duties
Harassing or creating a hostile work environment for a whistleblower
Refusing legally protected benefits to a whistleblower, such as disability or pregnancy accommodations or FMLA leave
Termination of employment

Federal law protects employees from reporting employer misconduct related to matters such as:

Workplace discrimination or harassment
Employee safety
Environmental compliance/protection
Protected leave
Financial misconduct
Consumer product and food safety
Consumer fraud
Minimum wage and overtime pay

Employers who retaliate against whistleblowers may face legal consequences, including liability to the whistleblower in a civil action.

Signs of Whistleblower Retaliation

Here are some signs that an employer is retaliating against an employee who has engaged in whistleblowing activity:

Denial of promotions in favor of less qualified candidates
Demotions or transfers to positions with less responsibility
Sudden downward changes in performance reviews or increased scrutiny of work
Disciplinary notices for minor infractions not typically penalized by the employer
Having pay or hours reduced
Ostracism in the workplace
Negative changes to work assignments, including removing tasks from a whistleblower’s duties
Exclusion from important projects
Sudden shifts to hostile behavior by supervisors or managers
Denial of benefits, including paid time off
False or unsubstantiated accusations of poor performance or misconduct

If you experience any of these signs at work after engaging in whistleblowing activity, you need to speak with an attorney as soon as possible to protect your rights and interests immediately.

Remedies for Whistleblower Retaliation

An employee who’s retaliated against for protected whistleblower activity may have a legal claim to seek compensation or other remedies from the court, such as:

Reinstatement to employment after a wrongful termination
Back pay for wages lost due to a retaliatory termination or denial of a promotion or pay raise
Front pay if an employee has not yet obtained new employment despite reasonable job search efforts
Compensation for losses caused by an employer’s defamatory conduct or due to damage to the employee’s professional reputation
Compensation for emotional trauma or distress

In rare cases, a jury in a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit may award an employee punitive damages if an employer engaged in malicious or wanton retaliatory conduct. Punitive damages do not compensate for losses but instead punish an employer for egregious conduct that shocks the conscience and deters other companies from engaging in similar conduct.

How Long Do You Have to File a Whistleblower Retaliation Claim?

Be aware that you have limited time to begin a claim to seek financial or other relief from your employer’s retaliation. The deadline for filing your particular retaliation claim will depend on the law under which you seek whistleblower protection. Some federal laws impose deadlines as short as 30 days after a retaliatory act for cases in which you must first file a claim with the U.S. Department of Labor, while other claims that allow you to proceed directly to federal court may have deadlines of several years.

As a result of these tight deadlines, you can best protect your rights to seek accountability and compensation by speaking with an employment law attorney as soon as possible. Wait too long, and you could lose your right to critical protections under the law.

How Can an Attorney Help You Pursue a Whistleblower Claim?

Reporting illegal and unethical activity is an important part of maintaining an open, free, and fair society. Have you decided to blow the whistle on your employer? If so, let an attorney from Bernabei & Kabat, PLLC, honor your bravery by:

Helping you lawfully gather and organize evidence to support your whistleblower claim
Helping you report your claim to the appropriate agencies within the relevant time period
Preparing you to participate as a witness in regulatory or law enforcement investigations
Advising you on your rights if you experience retaliatory actions by your employer after filing a whistleblower report
Documenting your losses if you become the victim of whistleblower retaliation
Pursuing retaliation claims with labor agencies or in court to demand accountability and compensation

Contact Our Firm Today for Legal Guidance and Advocacy

Whether you’ve already reported your employer’s bad behavior to authorities or are getting ready to do so, you deserve steadfast legal support for your whistleblower rights. Contact Bernabei & Kabat, PLLC, today for a confidential consultation with a whistleblower retaliation lawyer to discuss your next steps.

Talk To An Employment Lawyer Today

To talk to an attorney at Bernabei & Kabat, PLLC, about your employment concerns, please call 202.745.1942 or complete the contact form on this site. Our law office is in Washington, D.C.