What is a whistleblower, for employment law purposes?
The term “whistleblower” has many meanings in different contexts. We’re all familiar with the dramatic type of whistleblowing where an employee contacts the Feds secretly and reveals that the company is engaged in illegal activity. But there are many other types of conduct which employment lawyers might refer to as forms of “whistleblowing.” My Retaliation article tries to introduce you to many of the more common types of conduct that might fall into the whistleblowing category (depending on the circumstances). Certain laws provide protection against retaliation for those who report violations of laws, or participate in investigations or serve as witnesses in particular types of cases. Those activities are really at the core of what lawyers are thinking about when they talk about whistleblower protections. Whistleblowing can consist of reporting crimes or fraud (or possibly unethical conduct) to government agencies (or even sometimes to the company’s management). Also, whistleblowing c
