Whistleblower Protections

State and federal whistleblower laws protect employees from retaliation for reporting or opposing wrongful, illegal, or unsafe workplace practices. These laws prohibit employers from firing, demoting, threatening, harassing, denying a promotion to, or reducing the pay of an employee who engages in activity protected. In doing so, they give whistleblowers vital workplace protections and encourage employees to speak out against unlawful or unsafe workplace practices, hold employers accountable under the law, and stop wrongful practices from continuing.

There are a range of federal and state laws that protect employees working in a variety of industries. Whether you work for the federal government, a health care institution, a publicly-traded company, or elsewhere, you may have protections from retaliation for speaking out about illegal or improper behavior.

The Whistleblower Protection Action protects federal employees in the executive branch from retaliation for reporting illegal or improper government activities. Many states, including DC, Maryland, and Virginia, have similar state laws that protect employees of state executive agencies. Employees who work for a company that has a contract with the federal government are also protected from retaliation for reporting illegal or improper conduct by their employer. Other statutes provide safeguard to employees who complain about, report, or oppose activity related to health care fraud, corporate and accounting fraud, occupational safety and health, nuclear safety, environmental issues, or trucking.

The whistleblower lawyers at Correia & Puth are committed to ensuring that employees are protected when they take a stand for workplace safety, speak up about their employer’s unlawful behavior, and hold employers accountable for wrongdoing.