Whistleblowing usually involves raising concerns about a company’s negligent, unethical, unlawful, fake, fraudulent or dangerous action. The behavior can vary from violating corporate policy and procedural requirements to unlawful transactions, or to a threat against public safety, health, including fraud and safety violations. Here are some informative tips in whistleblower protection.
According to CACI 4603 to establish the claim the plaintiff must be able to prove the following elements:
The plaintiff must have a reasonable belief that the defendant’s policies violated federal, state, or local statutes, rules, or regulations. The disclosure of policies that an employee considers gross misconduct, wasteful, unwise is not protected. Disclosure of information is protected even though disclosing can be a part of the plaintiff’s work duties.
In case the employer fires the employee for whistleblowing illegal information, his action would be considered wrongful termination, and he will be penalized for workplace retaliation against whistleblowers. Whistleblowers have a right to remain anonymous, employers can try to discover who made the complaint or file a False Claim Act case.
Whistleblowing laws in California can provide monetary rewards to whistleblowers who managed to successfully recover funds for the government. In case the whistleblowing was related to fraud against the government, the person can receive a monetary reward through a qui tam lawsuit. According to the False Claims Act, a person who supports stopping fraud can receive up to thirty percent of what the government recovers from the guilty party.
In some cases, whistleblowers can also receive compensation for the emotional distress they suffered as a result of retaliation by the company or individual they reported.
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