The proposed reform would give federal whistleblowers the opportunity to withdraw their complaint from the SPD or OSC and take corrective action or allege unlawful retaliation by taking their case to the appropriate U.S. District Court after a reasonable period of time, which is generally considered to be 180 days. Disclosure of waste, fraud or abuse that includes classified information is not a protected disclosure under whistleblower laws, unless the disclosure is made in accordance with the laws and rules governing the proper handling and transmission of classified information. For example, you are not protected from disclosing classified information to an unauthorized recipient, even if you reasonably believe that the information is evidence of waste, fraud or abuse. You can make a protected disclosure of classified information to the OIG, but that information cannot be transmitted through the OIG`s unclassified hotline. For more information on how to properly provide classified information to the OIG, please contact the OIG hotline at (800) 869-4499 or the OIG Whistleblower Protection Coordinator. If an organization fails to maintain the confidentiality of a whistleblower who has made a protected disclosure in a manner deemed intentional or intentional, the change would provide remedies in the form of damages, including, but not limited to, non-monetary damage to the reputation of the farm or emotional distress. In addition, the intentional or intentional disclosure of information to a party who is not authorized to receive it would constitute a crime and the person in question could be liable to imprisonment or a significant fine. Not only is it important that whistleblowers are protected in the event of retaliation, but it is also important that those who intend to harm a whistleblower are punished and therefore discouraged from doing so. Another warning is that whistleblowers who have to leave their government jobs are given deadlines that prohibit employment by companies where the government employee was responsible for the contractual interactions. A former government employee may be prohibited from officially interacting directly with former employees who are still employed by the government.
[57] The Lloyd-La Follette Act was passed in Congress in 1912 to guarantee the right of federal employees to communicate with members of Congress. The bill was the first to protect whistleblowers. It established procedures to exempt federal employees from their employers and gave them the right to join unions. For all disclosures, whether classified or unclassified, an FBI employee is only protected if the disclosure is made to: Under the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012, the CPSC has established a Whistleblower Ombudsman to inform employees of the agency`s prohibitions on retaliation for whistleblowing, as well as employees` rights and remedies when exposed to retaliation for protected disclosure. If you are an employee of a Department of Justice contractor, subcontractor, fellow, sub-guarantor or Department of Justice personal services contractor, you can file a reprisal complaint with the OIG hotline. Under 41 U.S.C§ 4712, it is unlawful for an employee of a federal contractor, subcontractor, fellow, or personal services contractor to be fired, downgraded, or otherwise discriminated against for making a protected disclosure. For more information on whistleblower protection for these employees, see the information brochure prepared by the Office of the Inspector General. On the 28th. In January 2020, National Whistleblower Center General Counsel David Colapinto testified before the House Subcommittee on Government Operations hearing entitled « Protecting Those Who Report Government Wrongdoing » to discuss the urgent need for increased protection for federal employee whistleblowers. During his speech, Colapinto highlighted the crucial elements of effective protection against retaliation. In 2012, Congress passed the current WPEA to strengthen protections for federal employees who report fraud, waste, and abuse. The WPEA clarifies the scope of protected disclosures and notes that disclosure does not lose its protection because: In response to this weakness, the Information Authorization Act for fiscal year 2010 included the first general provisions to protect whistleblowers in order to promote legal disclosures to IOGIC.
However, most of its provisions are general and subject to several interpretations. PPD-19 does not protect contractors from any form of reprisal, with the exception of decisions related to their security clearance, which exposes them to reprisal, investigation and prosecution. [71] According to whistleblower lawyer Mark Zaid, the exclusion of contractors was « a remarkable and clearly deliberate oversight given the significant number of contractors now working in the intelligence community. This is a gap that needs to be filled urgently, because I often have entrepreneurs who come to me with whistleblowers and who are the least protected of all. [73] National security contractors used to have stronger whistleblowing rights under the National Defence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (NDAA), which protected Department of Defence contractors from retaliation. The law also created a procedure by which contractors could seek redress, first through investigations by the agency`s inspector general, and then through access to jury trials before the District Court of Civil Actions. .