The federal government has certain laws ultimately designed to prevent the misuse or waste of federal funds. Thus, to encourage federal employees to “blow the whistle” on those engaging in misconduct, lawmakers passed the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA). Under the WPA, government employees who report certain acts of misconduct are…
Employees of organizations are privy to all sorts of information that is not available to the public. Thus, it is not uncommon for an employee to discover that their employer is defrauding the government. When an employee discovers their employer is engaging in fraud, they can blow the whistle on…
The First Amendment prevents the federal, state, and local governments from infringing on rights of religion, press, speech, assembly, and petition. While workers of private companies are not protected from being fired for what they say, government workers may be protected from retaliation for exercising some of their First Amendment…
The SEC whistleblower program was established by Congress as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. The Dodd-Frank Act is one of several financial reforms, another of which was the Sarbanes Oxley Act, which was passed in 2002. The whistleblower program gives awards to eligible…
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Sarbanes Oxley) is a federal law that provides protection to those who work for publicly traded companies and who inform authorities about SEC regulation violations or federal law violations connected to fraud against corporate shareholders. The law prohibits retaliation, discrimination, or harassment in the workplace…
The False Claims Act (FCA) is a federal law that allows you to blow the whistle on unscrupulous companies, individuals, or contractors who defraud the government by bringing fraudulent claims or contracts. The FCA covers any federally funded contract or program. However, the FCA doesn’t cover securities fraud or tax…