Whistleblower-Palooza

It seems like whistleblower protection is a hot topic lately (well, along with that whole part of the health care law is unconstitutional thing). There are two topics of note in the whistleblower arena.

First, the Senate passed the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act. The Washington Post had some coverage, noting that:

The Senate has passed enhanced protections for government employees and contractors who report cases of waste, fraud and abuse.

Perhaps the most shocking part of the article is the statistic that the existing Whistleblower Protection Act has led to a "3-210 record against whistleblowers for decisions on the merits since October 1994." (Hat Tip: HR Hero via Twitter).

Additionally, the Wall Street Journal covered the challenges in ramping up the new Dodd-Frank whitleblower protections program:

The Dodd-Frank law dangles a pile of money in front of whistleblowers who tip off the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission to financial fraud. But collecting the bounty could be a challenge.

The article draws comparisons to the delays in the IRS's implementation of its own compensation for information program. (Hat Tip: Paul Secunda via Twitter).

Whistleblowing appears to be getting more protection every day, so it would be wise to keep up with the latest developments.

Posted by Philip Miles, an attorney with McQuaide Blasko in State College, Pennsylvania in the firm's civil litigation and labor and employment law practice groups.