Workers at companies that have a federal contract with the U.S. government for national security and defense work often have access to critically important information about these extremely sensitive transactions. In some cases, that information indicates that the defense contractor is committing crimes or defrauding the government.
Blowing the whistle by gathering and then disclosing that information to the government accountability office or other law enforcement agency is risky but can be rewarding. It can also lead to a substantial whistleblower award if you play your cards right.
Here are four things to know about the process.
1. You Have Legal Protections from Retaliation
One of the most important things that potential whistleblowers need to know is that there are federal laws that insulate them from workplace retaliation for their whistleblowing activities.
One of the most important of these is the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 (WPA). However, this statute was drastically altered by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which extended the legal protections of the WPA beyond just federal employees of the Department of Defense. Under the terms of the NDAA, those protections reached private sector employees who work for federal government contractors or subcontractors of a relevant agency.
Those protections are from retaliatory conduct in the workplace that stems from your whistleblowing activity. Supervisors and employers are prohibited from taking...
IBM reached a settlement with the federal government on Friday, agreeing to pay roughly $17 million to resolve allegations of illegal diversity, equity and inclusion practices. Acting Attorney Gen...