Every day we speak with someone who believes they have been wrongfully terminated from his or her job. One of the topics we discuss frequently is whether or not a potential client has a cause of action as a whistleblower. Roughly speaking Whistleblower protection laws protect individuals who report employers (or others) for unlawful, improper, or unethical conduct.

Whether or not someone has an actionable whistleblower case often depends on timing. If you blow the whistle after you’ve been fired, it is less likely that you have a case we can pursue for you. The purpose of whistleblower protection laws is to protect current employees from retaliation from employers. Whistleblower laws are not designed to act as a method of revenge for an employee to use after they’ve been terminated.

If you report illegal activity in your workplace, there are multiple laws, both state and federal, designed to protect your decision to report the illegal activity. The decision to blow the whistle, however, needs to be carefully considered and planned.

The type of illegal activity you seek to report needs to be reported to an appropriate law enforcement agency or relevant regulatory agency (OSHA, for instance.) It is also important to keep accurate records to the extent possible.

If you are aware of illegal, unsafe, or unethical activity or practices in your workplace we can help you devise a strategy to report the activity.