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Home » Areas of Practice » Workers' Compensation

Whistleblowers

A whistleblower is an employee, former employee, or member of an organization (e.g., business or government agency) who reports dangerous or illegal activity to people who have the authority to take action. In general, this misconduct is an infraction of a law, rule, or regulation and may pose a direct threat to public interest.

State and federal legislation is in place to protect whistleblowers. The law varies depending on the circumstances, but the following situations tend be common themes:

  • An employee is demoted or punished for turning in a boss for fraud.
  • An employee is let go or fired for reporting or griping about discrimination or harassment at work.
  • An employee is terminated for reporting health or safety hazards.
  • An employee is penalized or fired for validating a coworker’s grievance over another employee’s racial discrimination or sexual harassment.

If any of these situations have happened to you, or if you are considering participating in any whistle-blowing activity but are afraid of how your employer might react, consult a lawyer immediately for an understanding of your rights as far as the Florida Private Sector Whistleblower Act, the Florida Civil Rights Act, Title VII, and the Fair Labor Standards Act are concerned if they are applicable to your case. It is essential that you recognize how different laws apply to different cases. How you are protected is based upon whether you are a state or federal employee, if you work in a highly regulated industry. These characteristics will help distinguish the extent to which your rights are protected and will determine the amount of time you have to have to make a claim or sue in a state or federal court of law.

Background on the law

Florida’s Whistleblower Act offers a remedy for employees who believe they were unjustly punished for promoting obedience to local statutes, regulations, and state and federal laws. This legislation protects private sector workers in three different situations:

  1. Refusal to take part in an illegal act.
  2. Providing assistance to a government agency during an investigation of an employer’s criminal behavior.
  3. Threatening to divulge information or taking the steps to notify a government agency about unlawful acts after initially giving warning that this information would be shared if the illegal actions persist.

Over time, the Florida Supreme Court has been increasingly gracious to employees in regards to the Whistleblower Act; some trial judges have even been discarding whistleblower lawsuits in which employees objected verbally but did not document their objection on paper to this illicit act committed by their employer. Supreme Court justices have advised trial judges that an employee’s obligation to grant employers a written warning only be applied in cases where workers alerted government agencies of wrongdoing or threatened to take action. Employees are not mandated to give employers anything in writing documenting their disagreement with the illegal conduct occurring at the workplace.

Although keeping written record is not always a must, employees are better able to prove their opposition to this illegal behavior if they do write it down. Sending letters by way of certified mail or fax with proof of fax transmission allows workers to confirm at a later date that they did indeed oppose these actions. Regardless of how the letter is sent, always keep a photocopy of it for further backup.

Workers who victoriously wage whistleblower lawsuits deserve compensation for financial damages, including back pay and reduced future earnings. Opportunity may also arise to receive additional compensation for emotional pain and suffering. Under the Whistleblower Act, the losing party may be ordered to pay the victor’s lawyer expenses and other litigation fees. Some whistleblower claims allow workers to recover an amount equivalent to twice their economic damages unless the employer can prove that acts committed against the worker were intended to be in good faith. Actions carried out by the employer in retaliation to a whistleblower that are not as severe as firing are just as illegal. For example, demotions, reduced pay or benefits, suspensions, transfers, and refusal to give out a raise or promotion are also against the law.

When an employer seeks vengeance in the form of speaking badly about the whistleblower, that person reserves the right to sue for defamation of character as per Florida’s defamation law. State and federal anti-discrimination laws also allow the victim the chance to collect punitive damages for a whistleblower claim of the sort.