Whistleblower Law Research

Resources for researching Federal and state whistleblower laws are listed below.

About Whistleblower Laws

Whistleblower laws make it illegal for employers to retaliate in any way against employees who:

• Report employers' violations of whistleblower laws to the proper authorities
• Refuse to engage in activities made unlawful by whistleblower laws
• Participate in legal proceedings under whistleblower laws

Retaliation provisions typically include protection from discharge and harassment, and allow victims to file lawsuits for damages. See an attorney about suing for either.

Not every law with employer retaliation protection provisions has the word whistleblower in its title. Many have such provisions regardless of their titles.

An example is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), a landmark whistleblower law that provides unprecedented protections for corporate whistleblowers.

Collectively, the laws with such provisions are generally called whistleblower laws, whistleblower protection laws or whistleblowing laws. Whistle blower and whistle blowing are common spelling variations.

Whistleblower laws are established by acts of congress and state legislatures, and enforced by regulations. Laws are also called statutes.

Discrimination and many other employment and labor laws have protection provisions that prohibit employer retaliation for reporting violations of the laws, even though they aren't whistleblower laws per se.

Whistleblower Law Research Resources

Most Web resources, such as those listed below, focus on Federal whistleblower laws. Your state's department of labor is a good place to start for researching whistleblower laws that are specific to your state, and which might provide better protection than the Federal equivalents.

Federal Whistleblower Law Compliance Assistance
Links to the U.S. Code of Laws and Regulations for various Federal employment and labor laws administered by the U.S. Department of Labor, that have built-in whistleblower protection. Includes links to compliance assistance materials for employers.

Federal Whistleblower Law Protection Provisions
Links directly to the anti-retaliation and anti-discrimination protection provisions of Federal whistleblower laws, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Administrative Law Judges.

Federal Whistleblower Law Protection Provisions - OSHA
Links directly to the whistleblower law protection provisions in the U.S. Code, that are enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA administers the whistleblower protection provisions of several laws.

State Municipal Whistleblower Laws
Municipal Code Corporation provides links for researching municipal codes by state.

Whistleblower Law Help
The National Whistleblower Center provides research resources for Federal, state and municipal whistleblower laws and court cases. Qui tam legal actions under the False Claims Act are included. It's a non-government advocacy organization that informs, supports and helps to defend potential and active whistleblowers, in both the private and public employment sectors.