Developments in Federal Whistleblower Protection Laws

• Author: Stefanie A. Lindquist
• Published date: 01 March 2003
• Date: 01 March 2003
• DOI: 10.1177/0734371X02250118
• Subject Matter: Articles

10.1177/0734371X02250118 ARTICLE

REVIEWOFPUBLICPERSONNELADMINISTRATION / March 2003

Lindquist/LEGALBRIEF

Developments in Federal

Whistleblower Protection Laws

STEFANIE A. LINDQUIST

University of Georgia

This brief highlights severalimpor tant developmentsin the area of whistleblower

protection law.In particular, the brief describes the significance for whistleblow-

ers of new federal laws enacted in 2002, including the Notification and Federal

Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act, the Corporate Fraud and

Accountability Act, and the Homeland Security Act.

Keywords: whistleblower protection, NoFear Act, Corporate and Criminal

Fraud Accountability Act, homeland security

Last year’s Enron debacle highlighted the importance of incentives and

legal protections for corporate whistleblowers. Their actions assist the

Securities and Exchange Commission in its work to monitor corporate

wrongdoing. In the public sector, government employees who serve as

whistleblowers also act in the public interest, bringing to light malfeasance,

nonfeasance, and waste. A number of federal and state laws provide whistle-

blowers with protection from retaliation by corporate or governmental

employers, and some even provide whistleblowerswith financial incentives to

expose wrongdoing.1Nevertheless, these protections are not consistent across

the states, and federal laws protecting whistleblowers in the private sector are

spread among a number of different statutes. As a result, some observers

believe that legislation is still needed to protect employees more fully from

retaliatory action if they blow the whistle on improper conduct in the work-

place (see, e.g, Callahan & Dworkin, 2000; O’Leary, 2000).

In general, federal employees enjoyprotection from retaliation under the

Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989, which charges the federal Office of

Special Counsel with investigating reports of retaliatory employment

actions and handling claims for relief. Although this blanket protection is

78

LEGAL BRIEF

Review of Public Personnel Administration,Vol. 23, No. 1 March 2003 78-82

DOI: 10.1177/0734371X02250118

© 2003 Sage Publications