Citizens may file whistleblower complaints or qui tam actions against violators (persons or companies) through a variety of mechanisms. The two most common mechanisms for complaint filing in the dental industry are workers via the US Department of Labor especially though the Occupation and Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and civil lawsuits filed for alleged violations to the False Claims Acts (state and federal).

US DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employees (or misclassified “independent contractors” or “managers”) may file a complaint with US Department of Labor’s Office of Administrative Law Judges and/or their state labor department for a variety of violations inclusive of misclassification of employment status, workplace discrimination, and failure to provide overtime and required break periods.

The government suggests victims also retain personal legal representation.

Employer retaliation is specifically prohibited by adverse actions inclusive of:

• Firing or laying off
• Demoting
• Denying overtime or promotion
• Disciplining
• Denying benefits
• Failing to hire or rehire
• Intimidation or harassment
• Making threats
• Reassignment to a less desirable position or actions affecting prospects for promotion (such as excluding an employee from training meetings)
• Reducing or changing pay or hours
• More subtle actions, such as isolating, ostracizing, mocking, or falsely accusing the employee of poor performance
• Blacklisting (intentionally interfering with an employee’s ability to obtain future...

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