Whistleblower

A whistleblower reports wrongdoing they learned about, usually through their job, to a government agency, a court, or company leadership. Common subjects include billing fraud against Medicare or Medicaid, securities fraud, workplace safety violations, environmental violations, tax fraud, and wage theft.

Two kinds of legal protection matter most. The first is protection from retaliation: many federal and state laws make it illegal to fire, demote, or harass someone because they reported a violation, and allow the employee to sue for back pay and other damages. The second is financial reward programs:

• The False Claims Act lets a whistleblower file a qui tam lawsuit on the government's behalf and receive 15 to 30 percent of the recovery.
• The SEC whistleblower program pays for original information about securities law violations. Under 15 U.S.C. 78u-6, when the SEC's action results in sanctions over $1,000,000, a qualifying whistleblower receives an award of 10 to 30 percent of the money collected.
• The IRS and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission run similar programs.

Timing and the method of reporting matter. Award programs often require that the information be original and reported through a specific channel, and retaliation claims can have short deadlines, sometimes as short as 30 to 180 days under certain federal laws. Keep copies of documents you are legally allowed to keep, and write down dates and names.

Whistleblower cases are individual matters, not class actions. See our page on whistleblower and qui tam lawsuits and the guide how to sue a company.