Whistleblower Protection Act

The U.S. has a law commonly known as the Whistleblower Protection Act.

Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989

The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 is a United States federal law that protects federal whistleblowers, or persons who work for the government who report agency misconduct. A federal agency violates the Whistleblower Protection Act if it takes or fails to take (or threatens to take or fail to take) a personnel action with respect to any employee or applicant because of any disclosure of information by the employee or applicant that he or she reasonably believes evidences a violation of a law, rule or regulation; gross mismanagement; gross waste of funds; an abuse of authority; or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety.

The law created the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), charged with investigating complaints from bureaucrats that they were punished after reporting to Congress about waste, fraud, or abuse in their agencies. The OSC has jurisdiction over allegations of whistleblower retaliation for made by employees of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The U.S. Supreme Court, in the case of Garcetti v. Ceballos, 04-473, ruled that government employees do not have protection from retaliation by their employers under the First Amendment of the Constitution when they speak pursuant to their official job duties.

See also

• False Claims Act
• Federal crime
• Immunity from prosecution
• Informant
• Qui tam
• Telephone tapping
• Testimony
• Turn state's evidence
• Whistleblower
• White collar crime
• Witness
• Witness intimidation
• United States Federal Witness Protection Program
• United States Marshals Service

External links

• "Whistleblower Protection Act Information." U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. January 30, 2004. Retrieved May 3, 2007
• FAQs for filing a whistleblower appeal with the Merit Systems Protection Board and Office of Special Counsel.
• OSC Form 11 for filing a whistleblower retaliation complaint.