People who work for defense contractors in the United States of America have access to information that can implicate national security concerns. If you uncover worrying signs of misconduct, defense contractor fraud, or even criminality, you can blow the whistle by reporting the information to the appropriate law enforcement agency. In doing so, you may have legal protections from retaliation and may even be entitled to a substantial whistleblower reward for your troubles.
Here are five things to know about your rights as a defense contractor whistleblower.
One of the most pressing concerns that potential whistleblowers have is whether they can be fired for bringing the damning information that they have found to light. After all, the evidence usually runs contrary to the whistleblower’s employer – whether by imperiling the employer’s often lucrative contract with the government or by revealing the employer’s own misconduct.
The good news is that the legal insulation provided by the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989, or WPA, was extended by the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, beyond just federal employees in the defense field. While the WPA typically only covers federal employees, the NDAA explicitly expands its protections to anyone working on a contract or a grant with federal agencies. This includes all of the employees of most defense contractors and even their subcontractors.
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