Employee Whistleblowers: Claims Against Employer Misconduct

An employee whistleblower is one who exposes illegal conduct on the part of their employer. These employees are the reason many acts of illegal conduct on the part of company managers, executives and other business owners or operators are exposed and stopped. These “insiders” provide a great service by forcing employers to abide by the rules and pay for their illegal actions.

Employee Whistleblower Laws

In the U.S, employees who expose illegal conduct of their employers are protected by various laws from retaliation. Additionally, some case which are prosecuted by the government, called “Qui Tam” cases, offer the whistleblower a share of the fines imposed on the violating employer.

Some of the most common whistleblower protection laws depend on the type of violation. These include:

Corporate Fraud

After the fraud that took place at Enron and Worldcom, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed. Included in this act are protections for whistleblowers who report, either internally or to an external agency, corporate fraud or wrongdoing.

Workplace Safety Claims

Employees who report hazards of workplace safety are protected by OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Common types of work place health safety hazards include but are not limited to:

• Chemical hazards
• Unsafe scaffolding or other unenclosed, unharnessed work at great height
• Electrical hazards
• Over-Exertion
• Lack of protective gear
• Unsafe machinery
• Improper training for high-risk work

Environmental Misconduct

One of the common reasons a company will violate environmental regulations is to save on costs. Unfortunately, the damage they may do to neighboring communities far outweighs the cost savings. For this reason, there are many protections offered whistleblowers who expose this wrongdoing. Some examples include the Federal Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Toxic Substance Control Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Water Pollution Control Act and the Solid Waste Disposal Act.

Laws Specific to New Jersey

In New Jersey, the Conscientious Employee Protection Act offers whistleblowers even more protection than federal laws. For whistleblowers in New Jersey, even misconduct that is not specifically barred by law can be exposed and the employee protected.

Qui Tam Cases

For cases of company fraud against the government, employees are offered monetary compensation for their part in exposing and helping prosecute the violations. The percentages vary, but the relator (the whistleblower in a qui tam case) may receive between 10%-30% of the penalties imposed on the violating company.

One of the most well known qui tam cases involved Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company. They were sued for their marketing practices of the drug Bextra, and forced to pay $2.3 billion, of which the whistleblower, John Kopchinski, received $51.5 million.

If you become aware of illegal or unsafe practices in your workplace, there are legal protections for you in place, which enable you to put a stop to such activity. It is advisable that you consult with an employment lawyer who specializes in such areas, or with the governmental agency specifically designed to help you, before you take any action.