By Admin | Published February 25, 2014 | Posted in Employee Rights | Tagged Tags: Edward Snowden, german whistleblower prize, internet surveillance, Whistleblower Protection Act | Leave a comment
Is Edward Snowden a Whistleblower?
The Federation of German Scientists (VDW), the International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) and Transparency International bestowed the German Whistleblower Prize upon Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who leaked information about the NSA’s surveillance of internet and phone activity. A Quinnipiac University national poll, conducted shortly after Snowden obtained Read More
Read MoreWhistleblowers Are Being Locked Out of the IRS
Except for the booming payout of $104 million to UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld, most of the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Whistleblower Program‘s claims have not elicited any rewards. Senate Finance Committee Senior Member Charles Grassley insists there are numerous whistleblowers with good claims, but few are finding success at the IRS. At an Read More
Read MoreNew OSHA Rules Coming in 2015
By taking a look at the Unified Regulatory Agenda for Fall 2014, one can see that there are various plans for OSHA and other federal agencies to institute some new guidelines heading into the New Year. OSHA in particular is expected to add three rules in 2015 that will address several items: Injury and Read More
Read MoreSEC’s Whistleblower Program Is Waiting to Blow a Big Payout
Stephen Cohen, associate director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of the Whistleblower, spent the early part of the summer blowing his commission’s whistle and promising big awards on the horizon. However, in its first three years, the SEC has made only two awards. In the first, the whistleblower received $50,000, 30 Read More
Read MoreNational Defense Contractors’ Employees Now Have a Whistle
The 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), effective July 1, 2013, now offers employees of subcontractors with defense contracts the protection of the federal whistleblowing laws. Before the new law, subcontractors could only take their complaints of fraud or government waste to their bosses and not to a government office. Enhancing whistleblower protection for subcontractor Read More
Read MoreWhistleblower from 2005 Wins His Job Back
Scott Teutscher worked for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Association (RSA) from 1999 until he was dismissed in 2005. Beginning in 2002, the Riverside Sheriff’s Association Legal Defense Trust covered the legal costs for Duane Winchell, a deputy sheriff, in a domestic relations proceeding. These legal expenses were outside of the trust document. Teutscher blew the Read More
Read MoreWhistleblowers Are Taking Their Case to the U.S. Supreme Court
Jackie Lawson and Jonathan Zang believe that the 1st Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals misinterpreted the law. They appealed the court’s decision in Lawson v. FMR LLC and filed a brief with the Supreme Court arguing that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s whistleblower provision was misread, resulting in the conclusion that the anti-retaliation protections do not reach Read More
Read MoreTexas Whistleblower Act Has Jurisdiction
A state employee sent an email to a superior declaring that if a particular contract were not honored, then the entire department would not be complying with federal regulation. After being fired, the employee sued under the Texas Whistleblower Act (TWA) and attached a copy of the email. The Texas Supreme Court dismissed the complaint Read More
Read MoreWhistleblowers Blow their Whistles While They Work
It takes two to speak the truth: one to speak, and another to hear. -Henry David Thoreau The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Pilgrim Pride Corp. reached a $50,000 settlement in a 2012 whistleblower case. The case began when a manager for water reclamation at Pilgrim Pride’s processing plant Read More
Read More2012: What a Year to Blow Your Whistle
Despite reports of a federal government crackdown on leaks and whistleblowers, a review of the amount of whistleblower settlements in 2012 will blow your mind. Across all business disciplines and governmental agencies, whistleblowing led to major settlements. Whistleblowing settlements across America Spanning the spectrum of American businesses, whistleblowers were awarded significant sums of money in Read More
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