Whistleblower Law Blog

TweetAn investigation conducted by the Associated Press reveals that in the past six years, more than 90 percent of Department of Defense (“DoD”) whistleblower retaliation cases have been dismissed by the Inspector General’s office.  According to a study by the Associated Press, DoD investigators believe that many legitimate whistleblower claims are prematurely dismissed because of a [...]

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TweetThe U.S. Department of Labor ordered Charles Schwab to reinstate two employees who allege they were terminated for blowing the whistle on a scheme to falsify entries in a Schwab database system.  OSHA investigated their claims under the whistleblower provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and is ordering Charles Schwab to reinstate the whistleblowers [...]

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TweetIn Garcetti v. Ceballos, the Supreme Court held that whistleblowing by public employees in the course of performing their official job duties is not protected under the First Amendment as a matter of law.  As a result of the Garcetti decision, many public employee whistleblower retaliation claims have been dismissed on summary judgment.  In a [...]

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TweetThe Employment Law Group® law firm Principal Jason Zuckerman spoke at a National Employment Lawyers Association Conference titled “Litigating Harassment Retaliation Claims” in Chicago, Illinois.  Zuckerman’s presentation addressed new whistleblowers laws and offered tips for litigating whistleblower retaliation cases.

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TweetIn Melton v. Yellow Transp. Inc., the Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (ARB) clarified that it will apply the Burlington Northern standard to whistleblower cases when determining whether an employer violated a whistleblower retaliation protection provision.  This decision is significant because under Burlington, an employment action is materially adverse if it is capable of [...]

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TweetOn October 8, 2008, Jason Zuckerman, a Principal at The Employment Law Group® law firm, testified before the DC Council’s Committee on Workforce Development and Government Operations about recommendations to strengthen the DC Whistleblower Protection Act.  Due in part to former tax assessments manager Harriette Walters’ scheme to steal $48 million from DC taxpayers, the [...]

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TweetLegal Times reports about the October 7, 2008 decision in Drake v. Agency for International Development, where the Federal Circuit held that a foreign service investigator and client of The Employment Law Group® law firm did not need to prove actual violations of the law to be protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act (“WPA”).  The [...]

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TweetIn Drake v. Agency for International Development, the Federal Circuit held that the Merit Systems Protection Board (“MSPB”) erred in concluding that Drake’s disclosures were not protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act (“WPA”).  Drake, a Foreign Service Investigator with the U.S. Agency for International Development (“Agency”), alleged that he was retaliated against for blowing the [...]

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TweetToday The Employment Law Group® law firm prevailed on a motion to dismiss a claim of retaliation under the False Claims Act (“FCA”) and a defamation action.  Jason Mann alleged that his former employer Heckler & Koch Defense, Inc. (“HKD”) retaliated against him because he investigated and raised concerns about HKD’s submission of a potentially [...]

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TweetOn September 26, 2008, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a new whistleblower protection bill to extend whistleblower protections to city and county employees who report waste, fraud and abuse of government funds.  The new law authorizes cities and counties to create and maintain whistleblower hotlines to receive calls from employees who have information [...]

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