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Whistleblower law is related to Wrongful Termination law and includes the statutes that protect employees from being terminated or otherwise discriminated against in retaliation for exposing suspected dishonest or illegal activities or wrongdoings, that violate the public trust, occurring in their place of employment. Although the term ?whistleblower? is generally associated with government workers who report government fraud, these laws actually offer protection to employees of public or private companies, as well as government agencies. Some of these statutes also make provisions for monetary awards for employees who expose an employer who is guilty of these types of violations.

The federal Whistle Blower Protection Act (WPA) protects most federal employees who work in the executive branch. It also requires that federal agencies take appropriate action. The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) was created by this act and is tasked with investigating complaints by the federal employees who claim they were punished for blowing the whistle on their employer. Violations reported include illegal activity, gross mismanagement; gross waste of funds; abuse of authority; and actions which represent a significant and explicit danger to public health or safety.

The False Claims Act is another federal statute that protects whistleblowers who don?t work for the government, but are alleging fraud against the government by federal contractors. It also provides for a financial award to the employee reporting the fraudulent activity by way of a Qui Tam claim.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the organization responsible for administering the provisions of various federal whistleblower protection acts and regulations. To file a complaint with OSHA under one of these statutes, the activity the employee engaged in must be that which has been identified as a protected activity by any of the statutes; his/her employer must have been aware of the activity; and the employer must have subjected the employee to an undesirable action which was at least partially motivated by the protected activity. Timely reporting is an important factor for the successful filing of most whistleblower retaliation complaints. OSHA has regional and area office located throughout the United States.

Most individual states have also enacted their own whistleblower laws, which protect state, public and/or private employees. Unlike their federal counterparts however, these state levels generally do not provide for the payment of compensation to whistleblowers, but instead concentrate on the prevention of retaliatory action toward the whistleblower. (See US Whistleblower Law for a link to a list of individual state whistleblower laws.) Federal law will have precedence over a state law when a conflict occurs.