Private colleges and universities, take note. A significant expansion of New York State’s Whistleblower Law (NYS Labor Law Section 740) takes effect on Jan. 26, 2022. This change will affect all private employers throughout the state, including private institutions of higher education (IHEs). The changes provide that current and former employees and independent contractors are protected for complaints about employer actions that they “reasonably believe” violate any law. There will no longer be a requirement of proof of an actual violation of law, or that the law be related to health care fraud or public safety. Given the breadth of activity of most IHEs, and the many federal, state and local legal requirements that govern the higher education sector, these changes provide a significant new avenue for faculty, staff members, independent contractors and possibly even students, who are also employees, to bring a legal challenge to employment and other action that they view as retaliatory. They also open the door for employees to bring claims of what they reasonably believe to be an employer’s non-compliance without having to first bring the matter to the employer’s attention in order to allow the employer to provide an explanation or cure a deficiency.
Who Can Bring a Claim Under the Expanded Law?
The amendments will allow current employees, as well as former employees and individual independent contractors, to bring claims. Although not specified in the law, students who...
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