Why do whistleblowers get fired

Unfortunately, many people across the country have to deal with employer retaliation after blowing the whistle on their company. First of all, we are sorry. There is nothing worse in professional life than getting fired. It is especially traumatic to get fired precisely because you told your bosses about something obviously wrong. You probably trusted your boss and your co-workers, and now it appears that trust was misplaced.

It is hard to know who to trust now. It is not our business, but it is possible that someone in this position may need additional professional help. Indeed, many of our clients tell us that before they got fired for being a whistleblower, they thought stress was a joke, and that you should not be able to sue for it.

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The violations, summarized in Exhibit 2 above , show that 15 percent of the employees accused their employers of issuing false reports. Fourteen percent alleged violations involving air or water quality. Ten percent alleged nepotism or self-dealing. Nine percent alleged patient abuse or neglect.

Nine percent alleged discrimination or civil rights violations. Eight percent alleged miscellaneous violations and another eight percent alleged violations of state labor laws or workplace safety. Examining the laws whistle-blowers use to seek protection can provide insights into why they often lost their cases. Sixty-one percent of the whistle-blowers sued using a state whistle-blower law. Twelve percent used an anti-retaliation clause in a labor law.

Eight percent sued under contract law, and 5 percent sued under the U. Constitution or other civil rights law. Five percent began by having their cases heard in a civil service or union hearing, and 2 percent sued to appeal a professional code of conduct violation.

The remaining 7 percent filed under a miscellaneous law. The laws are summarized in Exhibit 3 below. Sixty-four percent of the whistle-blowers who sued using a labor or employment law lost, despite the fact that they barely blew the whistle. Case in point: An auditor, working for a New York City brokerage firm, reported that corporate officers were engaged in money laundering. He filed a complaint with the New York Stock Exchange and received compensatory damages in arbitration.

He then filed a lawsuit under a labor law to seek punitive damages. The auditor lost because punitive damages are awarded only when the perpetrator engages in a pattern of conduct aimed at the public in general. The whistle-blowers in the sample who sued under contract law were independent contractors.

They sued for breach of contract when they were terminated prior to the end of their employment contracts and lost when they failed to prove the causal link between their termination and whistle-blowing. Case in Point: The most interesting contract law case was filed by mechanics of a chemical company.

They told the Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA that their employer exposed the chemical plant shop to asbestos, and then they were terminated. The mechanics proved their case and were awarded compensatory damages for lost wages.

Some of the whistle-blowers sued to protect their rights to free speech under the First Amendment of the U. To prevail, these whistle-blowers had to prove the issue was a matter of public interest. The firefighter had secretly tape-recorded conversations with co-workers and jumped the chain of command. The court held that the firefighter had carried his concerns to protect the public too far. In another First Amendment case, a Nebraska prison guard told a reporter about the serious racial problems in his prison.

The guard was terminated, despite the fact that he had permission to participate in the interview. Prison officials claimed the guard overstepped his authority to speak in the interview and that his speech disrupted prison efficiency.

The court held that racial problems are a matter of public interest and outweigh any harmful effects to prison efficiency or morale. Most of the whistle-blowers who began their complaints with civil service or union hearings were police officers, alleging harassment after reporting internal corruption. The officers lost at hearing and sued to appeal those decisions. Most of the officers were assigned to task forces charged with investigating internal corruption.

They were harassed when the investigations led to findings of internal corruption. The only officer to prevail demonstrated a long pattern of harassment, which led to his complete mental and physical breakdown. Although the officers usually lost pursuing this course of action, as civil servants they likely were required to begin with civil service or union grievances.

Most of the employees who sued to appeal decisions that their whistle-blowing violated professional codes of conduct lost when the codes required the professionals to maintain client confidentiality.

The courts still held these employees to a higher standard of confidentiality. So far, the courts have applied this standard to attorneys, but other professionals with confidentiality clauses in their codes of conduct, such as accountants, could be held to this standard as well. Most of the whistle-blowers in the review lost their lawsuits.

Exhibit 4 above shows that 55 percent of the whistle-blowers filing under a state whistle-blower statute lost their cases. Sixty-four percent filing under a labor law lost, as did 60 percent of those filing under the U. Constitution or civil service agreement. Half of the employees appealing a violation of a professional code of conduct lost. Several factors play a role in deciding under what law and in which court to file.

If so, you may have a wrongful termination claim for retaliation or whistleblowing. Many employment laws prohibit employers from firing employees for exercising their rights under those laws.

Employees are also protected for whistleblowing: reporting that the company has broken laws unrelated to workers' rights such as laws regulating consumer protection, product safety, government contracts, or shareholder fraud. This article explains some of the laws that protect you from retaliation or protect you as a whistleblower, as well as how to make a claim for retaliation or whistleblowing. An employer retaliates against an employee when it takes action to punish the employee for exercising his or her workplace rights or for reporting a legal violation of workplace laws.

Many employment laws are enforced by employees who come forward to report a problem, such as harassment, failure to pay overtime, or safety hazards. Although there are government agencies responsible for enforcing these laws, these agencies typically don't conduct random workplace audits looking for violations.

Instead, they rely on employee complaints to learn of potential violations. Even then, enforcement agencies almost never sue employers for breaking the law. Although an agency might investigate, impose a fine, or even make a finding that an employer has likely violated the law, the employee must typically bring a lawsuit to vindicate his or her rights.

Whistleblowing occurs when an employee reports illegal conduct at work that is not related to workplace rights.

For example, you are a whistleblower if you report that your company is cooking the books; engaging in shareholder fraud; producing faulty, dangerous, or mislabeled products; or lying on its tax returns.

An employer may not fire an employee for blowing the whistle on certain illegal activity. Some laws that prohibit certain types of unethical or illegal corporate behavior explicitly protect employee whistleblowers. For example, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, passed in to protect investors from corporate financial wrongdoing, includes whistleblower protections for employees who report financial irregularities and shareholder fraud. Some states also have laws that allow employees to sue their employers for wrongful termination in violation of "public policy.

However, state laws vary as to the specific type of activity that is protected. For example, some states allow public policy claims only if a state law explicitly provides whistleblower protection for example, a state law protecting nurses who report unsafe conditions at hospitals.

Other states allow public policy claims whenever an employee reports a violation of a law that was intended to protect the public. You'll need to talk to an experienced employment lawyer to find out whether you can bring this type of claim in your state for the legal violation you reported.

If you are fired for refusing to engage in illegal behavior, you may also have a wrongful termination claim.