Deadlines for Legal Protection of Whistleblowers

Awareness of Deadlines is Important for Whistleblowers

This patchwork of laws requires that victims of retaliation be alert to the laws at issue, to assure that their reports or complaints are made within the proper deadlines.

Here are some examples of the deadlines that whistleblowers must be aware of before they can seek damages:

• Ten day deadlines apply for Arizona State Employees to file a “Prohibited Personnel Practice” complaint before the Arizona State Personnel Board, and to Ohio public employees to file appeals with the State Personnel Board of Review.
• There is a 30-day deadline for environmental whistleblowers to make a written complaint to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (”OSHA”).
• Federal employees complaining of discrimination, retaliation, or other violations of the civil rights laws have 45 days to make a written complaint to their agency’s equal employment opportunity (”EEO”) officer.
• Airline workers and corporate fraud whistleblowers have 90 days to file their complaints with OSHA.
• Nuclear whistleblowers and truck drivers have 180 days to file complaints with OSHA.
• Victims of retaliation against union organizing and other concerted activities to improve working conditions have 180 days to make complaints to the National Labor Relations Board (”NLRB”).
• Private sector employees have either 180 or 300 days to make complaints to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) (depending on whether their state has a “deferral” agency) for discrimination claims on the basis of race, gender, age, national origin, or religion.
• Those who face retaliation for seeking minimum wages or overtime have either two or three years to file a civil lawsuit, depending on whether the court finds the violation was “willful.”

Federal employees could benefit from the Whistleblower Protection Act, and the No FEAR Act (which made individual agencies directly responsible for the economic sanctions of unlawful retaliation). Federal protections are enhanced in those few cases where the Office of Special Counsel will uphold the whistleblower’s case.

Those who report a false claim against the federal government, and suffer adverse employment actions as a result, may have up to six years (depending on state law) to file a civil suit for remedies under the U.S. False Claims Act (”FCA”). Under a qui tam provision, the “original source” for the report may be entitled to a percentage of what the government recovers from the offenders. However, the “original source” must also be the first to file a federal civil complaint for recovery of the federal funds fraudulently obtained, and must avoid publicizing the claim of fraud until the U.S. Justice Department decides whether to prosecute the claim itself. Such qui tam lawsuits must be filed under seal, using special procedures to keep the claim from becoming public until the federal government makes its decision on direct prosecution.

The Military Whistleblower Protection Act, protects the right of members of the armed services to communicate with any member of Congress (even if copies of the communication are sent to others).

The HOPE Scholarship in Georgia is the only incentive to report corporate, government, or religious crimes. This scholarship provides four years of free tuition to a tech school or University in Georgia for children of whistleblowers or those researching corporate crime.